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Monday, 14 January 2002  
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'Lanka Police service needs higher sense of professionalism'

by Sarath Malalasekera

Increasing criminal activity and the fear phychosis it is engendering among law abiding citizens underlines the need for a higher sense of professionalism in the Sri Lanka Police Service, speakers addressing the inaugural sessions of a training program conducted by Senior Officers of the British Police in Colombo said recently.

Officers following the course titled "Scene of Crime Management and Investigation Techniques" sponsored by the British High Commission in Colombo include men of the CID and Police Stations countrywide..

Miss Alson Kemp, the First Secretary of the British High Commission, Prof. Ravindra Fernando, DIG Chandra Fernando, head of the Police Higher Training Institute and Police Academy, Senior SP Cecil Kariyawasam, Director Police Higher Training Institute and several senior Police officers participated.

DIG Chandra Fernando said research had revealed that social interaction had been gravely reduced. Business hours have been curtailed due to the power cuts, which provides an opportunity for criminals to engage in nefarious activities without fear of being identified in the dark. This has given rise to a frustrated attitude in the public mind towards the law enforcement authorities due to the inability of the Police to readily control crime and anti-social activities. This has inevitably resulted in the need for business houses and individuals to engage private security personnel. The Police resources have been overstretched due to their increased workload, DIG Fernando said.

The majority of the participants at the course are the officers in charge of the Police Training Units countrywide, who have already followed the first and the second phases of this programme. They would on completion the third and final phase of this course, go back to their respective training units and conduct the identical programme for the officers attached to the crime branches of their police stations. The main objective is to train at least two Police Sergeants at every police station, the DIG said.

DIG Fernando also said that the Senior officers in charge of the crime branches would be summoned to the Police Higher Training Institute to follow the identical training programme on completion of which they would become more professional in managing the scene of crime and in their investigation techniques.

In the management of the scene of crime and looking for clues to solve the crime, DIG Fernando emphasised the importance of involving experts in the investigation such as forensic experts, Government Analyst, finger-print experts, pathologists, Examiner of Questioned Documents, (EQD).

DIG Fernando emphasised that with professionalism there would be a lesser number of human rights violations by law enforcement officers who adopt unscientific methods for collecting evidence at the scene of crime, interrogation of suspects and interviewing witnesses without recourse to third-degree methods.

The course content of this training programme also identifies how best these experts could assist the police to bring the criminals to justice, which could in addition result in meaningful co-ordination among the professionals attached to these agencies.

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