Enforcing on the Enforcers

The present Inspector General of Police has taken up an arduous task upon himself and that is to clean up his own stables. This pronouncement is apparently made with good intentions of enforcing the law and order on the enforcers first. After all if the immediate guardians of law are found to be wanting in their adherence to, there could be little chance of the law being enforced in the country at large. The question however is how should the IGP set about this task and what are his limitations in achieving results?

Police is a unique arm of governance and they have an onerous duty to perform in the day-to-day affairs of the society. To start with, we are not sure whether to call it ‘Police Force’ or ‘Police Service’. The reality is that its role is in between those two and that is why it is unique; because it has to use force and provide a service.

The official definition however is that it is “the body of agents organized to maintain civil order and public safety, enforce the law and investigate crime”.

Law and order has to be maintained at all cost in a country because that is the essence of social peace and the absence of that is anarchy. And it is this act of adhering to law and order that sets the human society apart from the jungle. Having said that, the reality however is that when we have a body to maintain law and order it become necessary for us to empower that body sufficiently to rein the violators in. Police officer ones told me that ‘if we are to enforce the law, we must first have the right to violate it’.

Law and order

Even though it sounded a somewhat preposterous then, come to think of it, I now see the point he made. We have to have ‘licensed chandi’ to neutralize the ‘chandi’ (criminals). Hence we have to give them licence to use force to protect law and order to degree equal to what a criminal is prepared to use to violate it.

True, the Police do not have the power to administer and dispense the law but that part comes later and it is the enforcer that comes first and hence it is the Police officer who carry this ‘on the job’ power. Every job or profession may have a degree of ‘on the job’ power but in the business of maintaining law and order, the ‘on the job power’ is immense. And that is what makes the Police unique and its actions often questioned.

Who is the motorist who can challenge a Police officer when he issue a ticket for a traffic offence and who is the civil member who can save himself from being arrested on doctored evidence? Hence this unique character of the police has to be acknowledged by all as a fact of practical reality.

Having acknowledged that, the position then is how to ensure that this power bestowed, is used for the purpose it is intended for and not abused; for the line between use and abuse of power is a very thin one. What the IGP then needs to do is to fine-tune his department’s internal discipline, ethical practices and the police law to ensure that the line between use and abuse gets fatter.

A clearer demarcation will always facilitate deciphering bona fide use of power more readily from abuse. What a pleasant land this Island could be if the Police start leading by example? Having conceded that, we also have to appreciate that much of this criticism levelled against the police springs from the general public due to their own lack of empathy of the job of a Police officer. ‘Oh! The Police, the last person to be trusted or relied upon!’

This is often because the members of the public, having established personal contacts with Police officers, expect those officers to help them out from a ‘spots of violation’ of the law. This ‘general public’ includes the ruling politicians, high-ranking officers, and from filthy rich right down to the helpless beggars.

The police is blamed equally when they enforce the law as well as when they do not enforce the law. One section will blame when the law is not enforced and the other will blame when the law is enforced. Ironically, whatever the action the Police takes they cannot escape criticism from one party or the other!

Civil society

Then why has this august job of maintaining law and order has come to be the most delicate job of all? This is simply because we in the civil society are so obsessed with our own side of the problem that we fail to appreciate the necessity of maintaining law and order impartially in our society.

How many of us are prepared to compromise on our personal liberties and discretions for the sake of the social good?

As members of the civil society, irrespective of the position we enjoy in the social hierarchy, what we have to realize is that with every exception we demand from upholding of law and order, the society gets closer and closer to an eventual state of anarchy.

A politician who uses his influence to free a supporter from rape charge is exposing his own daughter to a society that does not shun rape. When a rich man uses his influence to free a criminal he is making his family vulnerable to crime. Hence you try to tamper with the law and order and it could come back on you like boomerang!

How beautiful this land could be, if all its citizens realize the importance of maintaining law and order? That will mean less hassle for us and less work for the Police.

The IGP can only do his part and expect the rest to fall in line. May be he could initiate a campaign for that ‘rest’ that is beyond him and sometimes he may succeed.

In any case we wish him luck in all his endeavours because, after all he is another Mahinda!