In transition

Perhaps there has not been any State body or Government institution that has drawn much flak in recent times as our Police Department. It is also undeniable that this low estimation of the Police Force in the eyes of the public was justified to some degree. But this is simplifying things. A close study of the evolution of the Police service to its present dimension is therefore apposite in this post war era.

There is no denying that the Police became an adjunct of the country's Armed service during three decades of war against terrorism blurring the lines that separated what is essentially a civilian law enforcement agency from a combat unit fighting a war. This made the Police Department part of the overall security apparatus of the country and consequently being treated as an anti-terrorism unit than a body appointed to deal with local crime. The Policeman was therefore equated with a military officer confusing the true role of the Police.

This is why Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa the other day spoke of the need for reverting the Police Department to its original status as a civilian law and order force essentially tasked with crime busting and attending to domestic law and order issues. Declaring open the new Police Academy in Katana on Monday, he said the Police had forgotten that they were peacetime law keepers due to the three decades of war and said that Police personnel should now focus on their normal role immediately. He said maintaining law and order and peace was the most important task of the Police.

At the outset it should be said that the Police played a not inconsiderable role that saw the total elimination of the LTTE. Thousands of its personnel made the supreme sacrifice while combating the terrorists in the remote outposts of the country. Others were killed while doing sentry duties, manning roadblocks, checkpoints and other multifarious chores associated with guarding the city from terrorist attacks and its economic targets. It would be no exaggeration to state that the Police stood as the chief bulwark against terrorists striking with impunity outside the main theatre of war, permitting the Security Forces to concentrate on their job. In this respect nobody would begrudge the Police too being treated on par with the three Armed Forces in the successful battle against terrorism.

But as the Defence Secretary stated the time has come for the Police to assume its traditional role as guardians of the law. It should now start getting more and more closer to the public shedding its militaristic outlook. Its hardened experience combating terrorism no doubt would come in good stead to deal with the new dimension crime has assumed in the brutalized milieu of the armed conflict. As the Defence Secretary observed the post war period has posed new challenges to the Police Force such as dealing with sophisticated underworld networks, crime connected to narcotics, free flow of firearms, drug trafficking etc - all by products of the three decades of war which society has had to live with.

True, it will not be easy for the Police service to change overnight from its civilian - military outlook. The psychological adjustments would take some time. However change it must in keeping with the return to normal civilian life and the gradual dismantling of the military structures. The Police should now integrate itself with the public harking back to its halcyon days when the Khakiuniform was an object of awe and respect.

What is needed is a change in the outlook of the Police Department which as mentioned had taken a severe beating to its image recently. It should strive to act independently resisting political pressure in the performance of its duties. IGP Mahinda Balasuriya who is a product of the old school should prevail on his charges the importance of building good rapport with the public in this period of transition. No room should be made for accusations of Police inaction or partiality. Hopefully our Police Force will recap its once untarnished reputation and public confidence and become the model law enforcement body it was in the past.