Commending the Police
The Police Department has been at the receiving end of
many a brickbat in recent times and for good reasons. Never
before in its history has the department sullied its good name
due to the conduct of a few miscreants. This has even served to
camouflage the good work done by the Police Department in recent
times against trying odds.
There have been instances when police officers had laid their
lives on the line in pursuing dangerous criminals. Sadly these
acts of gallantry hardly register with the public. Police
officers also have had to flirt with danger in their missions.
The recent commando style operation to apprehend a notorious
criminal in Maligawatte where some police personnel were even
shot at is a case in point.
It is in this backdrop that one should commiserate with IGP
Jayantha Wickramaratne who the other day lamented the lack of
public appreciation and acknowledgement of the role played by
his men to ensure the safety of the public. The thrust of his
argument was that the public viewed the entire Police Department
with a jaundiced eye in the wake of a few infringements on the
part of certain errant officers of the law and failed to give
credit to the Department for acts of gallantry.
The IGP cannot be faulted for taking up cudgels on behalf of
his men who had been pilloried by the public. His job will be to
present a cleaner image of the police before the end of his
tenure in a couple of months. Thus he could be excused for
highlighting some of the achievements of his department which
had failed to strike a chord with the public.
Addressing a Police Awards ceremony on Friday the IGP spoke
of the large number murders and robberies that were solved
during the past few years. He also commended his men for busting
the largest ever bank robbery in Sri Lanka of Rs. 98 million
stolen from several Banks in Divulapitiya and where the bulk of
the loot was recovered.
“The public expects the police to play a major role and the
Police Department has improved its commitment to protect
civilians and prevent crime,” the Police Chief said. One hopes
that police would now devote its energies full time in fighting
crime in earnest with the war brought to an end and build up
rapport with the public which was lost along the way with its
role having undergone a transformation during the years of war.
True, the police force over the years was virtually turned
into a combat unit alongside the regular forces in the context
of the terrorist threat. Thus it lost its traditional outlook as
essentially a law enforcement agency. This military mentality
may also have served in hardening some of the officers which
manifested itself in certain acts in recent times which earned
for the Department the wrath of the public.
Now that the war is over the police which played a not
inconsiderable part in the defeat of terrorism will have the
opportunity to revert to its traditional role of a civilian
force where greater interaction with the public would help erase
all misunderstandings, earning for itself once again the awe and
respect it once enjoyed among the public in the not too distant
past.
A sporting gesture
At a time when sports like all other things have
fallen prey to mammon it was gratifying to note that there are
still good sportsmen in our midst who stand by the lofty
principles enunciated in the sporting tradition.
We are of course referring to the gesture of England Captain
Andrew Strauss in recalling Sri Lankan batsman Angelo Mathews
after the latter was deemed run out after colliding with a
bowler while attempting to take a second run in the on going
Championship series in South Africa.
This was a time that Sri Lanka was developing a threatening
partnership in which Mathews was a key figure. Had they
succeeded, Sri Lanka would have won the match which would have
eventually have even meant elimination of England from the
tournament.
What was at stake was US dollar 2 million prize money for the
ultimate winner. But for once sportsmanship took precedence
above anything else at a time when winning at all cost is the
present day credo with mega bucks on offer.
Hopefully such gestures on the playing field will help revive
all those lost values attached to sportsmanship where winning is
not all but how you play the game.
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