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The enforcers of the law have got their priorities mixed up and need radical reform
- Control and prevention of crimes
- Prevention of drug menace
- Controlling corruption
- Protection of the environment
- Traffic control
- Making relief to people in disaster situations
- Providing VIP security
- President - 1
- MPs - 225
- Perhaps the Governors and Chief Ministers of the nine provinces require Police protection
- Judges - The Chief Justice definitely requires Police protection, and perhaps also all of the other justices of the Supreme Court. Also the Attorney General and the Auditor General. But does every magistrate need a police presence to protect him? Remember that important officials can easily obtain gun licences, and are officially issued guns by the Government, if their jobs place them at risk
- Does every head of a government department need protection? For what reason? Perhaps a few of them do, such as the Governor of the Central Bank. But if a particular department head requires security, it should be provided and paid for by that particular department, and not by the resource-strapped Police Department
- Heads of the armed forces are protected by personnel of their forces, and Police are therefore not required
- Should Provincial Councillors be protected by the police? Against whom? Why would they be under threat from anyone, except perhaps the voters whom many of them defraud?
- The same is true of local government politicians. The Chairman of a Pradeshiya Sabha does not need Police protection
- Foreign dignitaries do need to be protected. But how often do we have foreign VIPs visiting our country? Not very often
- 494 police stations are currently established to carry out a broader role. In addition, the Sri Lankan Police services are implemented by an organisation structure, comprising 44 territorial and 62 functional divisions
- More than 88,000 policemen are in the cadre (In supra grade, inspector grade, and junior grade). The actual number appears to vary in different documents
- There are an additional 4,000 civil officers assisting the tasks of the Police
- Restructuring of human resources and other resources We have an enormous number of policemen – 88,000 of them in fact. We simply need to restructure the Department to ensure that 44,000 aren’t serving politicians and other VIPs. Restructure and transfer about 30,000 of them to serve the public, and we will find that we have enough policemen, and that crime will drop drastically.
- Only specialist divisions should protect VIPs The President has the PSD; the PM has the PMSD; Ministers have the MSD; etc. These divisions should take care of the VIPs. The resources of every police station should not be used up to take care of the Pradeshiya Sabha members in the area.
- Technology
- CCTV – In an era when even small shops have CCTV cameras watching the road, it is incomprehensible why police and local government authorities don’t have cameras installed in all major public locations. This would prove to be a huge deterrent of crime.
- DNA and fingerprint database – It is highly desirable that a database of DNA and fingerprints be maintained by the Police Department. Crime fighting would become far simpler.
- Database of citizens – The Government of Sri Lanka already has all data with regard to every citizen. It’s simply just scattered among dozens of different departments, none of which seem to share information with each other. There have been many grand announcements of an integrated database, but little progress appears to have been made. Such a database would enable every police station to instantly access details with regard to every citizen, which is a very basic component in controlling crime.
- Training
- Physical fitness
Copyright Niresh Eliatamby and Nicholas Ruwan Dias Dr. Nicholas Ruwan Dias, BSc, MSc, PhD, and Niresh Eliatamby, LL.B., LL.M., MBA, are Managing Partners of Cogitaro.com, a consultancy that finds practical solutions for challenges facing society, the environment and all types of industries. Dr. Dias is a digital architect and educationist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ruwan@cogitaro.com Eliatamby is an author, journalist and educationist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. niresh@cogitaro.com |