Urgent need to arrest crime wave

THE week that ended was perhaps the bloodiest in terms of local crime in recent memory. First it was the quadruple murder in Panadura followed by the gruesome killing of a female accountant in Modera. Friday saw three members of the same family hacked to death in Moratuwa.

Time was when a single murder in the country created waves and the public lapped up the details reported in newspapers with avid interest.

A single murder was the topic of conversation for months and there were even times when some sensational murder was spun into verse by the “kavikolakarayas” of yore where the subject evoked much gossip and theories in the wayside boutiques and among the general public.

Today however murders are taken in their stride by the general public and killings sometimes go unnoticed in the newspapers except when the victims are public figures or where it evokes sensation.

No doubt the transformation wrought by economic liberalisation its collorary of a permissive culture, the invasion of television, drugs and other vices gradually caused an erosion of the sensitivities of Sri Lankans to violence and crime.

The brutalisation of society as a result of the war and the free availability of weapons all contributed to the dehumanising process with the result that today hardly a second thought is given towards any act of barbarism in our midst.

Added to this is the change in the role called upon to be played by the Police in the midst of LTTE terrorism where its primary duty of combating local crime has tended to get blurred.

Today crimes are being committed with impunity and more often than not the offenders go scot free sometimes with political help. This has led to a general apathy among the public towards the police and even among committed officers, which could only encourage the criminal elements to more dastardly deeds.

Hence the need for the IGP to reinvent the wheel and make his Department primarily a crime busting unit while in no way ignoring the lurking threat posed by the LTTE.

There are frequent calls for introducing harsh laws as deterrents to prevent crime but no headway has been made in this connection while the number of murders keep on piling up.

The debate still rages on the merits of reintroducing the hangman while crime continues apace. Some feel that deterrent punishment alone would not serve to combat crime as seen from experiences in other countries which retains capital punishment.

Therefore measures should be taken to rid the cancer at the source and the Police Department should be geared up for the challenge. True the Police under the present IGP has made many breakthroughs in crime, apprehended gang leaders while busting up crime rings.

However from what we see the wave of murders are mounting and the public conscience increasingly anaesthetised to the horrors.

There is, therefore, an immediate need to prevent the situation from slipping into anarchy.

The Government should take steps to beef up the Police Department with additional personnel and other wherewithal to fight local crime, which is galloping out of hand.

The police meanwhile should seek to win the confidence of the public in this exercise since their support is vital in any campaign to fight crime.

It is no secret today the many crimes including murder, largely stem from the drugs trade and vigilance should be maintained to apprehend the kingpins. It is high time that the Police declare an all out war on local crime.

Our laws too should be updated and given more teeth to ensure effective punishment. This culture of impunity must stop.