Police reform urgent

It was only recently that a Government Minister described the country's erstwhile Police Department as the second most corrupt State body in the country. There was hardly any argument to refute this contention. Even the Police top brass steered clear from disputing this damning indictment on it by a Government Minister. Therefore one can safely assume that this is the state of affairs within the country's Police Department. One can even go further to venture that there is a decadence that has set in the Police service as a whole that if not promptly dealt with would have serious consequences on the country's law and order.

Hardly a day passes without some misdemeanour on the part of the Police being reported. Bribery of course is the most common of these. There is also corruption of other forms justifying the label affixed to the Police Department by the Minister.

Today we carry as our main story an incident which would certainly plunge the Police Department into a new low and further blot its already tarnished image in the eyes of the public. According to the report eight Police officers including an Assistant Superintendent of Police have been arrested while hunting for treasures in, of all places, a temple premises. Polonnaruwa Police have also taken into custody two civilians who had assisted the suspects in the treasure hunt at the Dimbulagala, Siripura Suriyadeva Rajamahaviharaya Sunday.

Here is a case where Police officers who should uphold the law and bring lawbreakers among the civilian population to book is engaging the very civilians whom they are bound to Police, in illegal activities. Should we say more about the Police?

Time was when the country's Police Department was the epitome of honesty and integrity where its officers gained the respect of the public. The khaki uniform was regarded with awe and reverence. Recruitments to the Police Department were done with care where only the cream was selected after a careful vetting process.

The breakout of war saw mass recruitment to the Police service which did away with these standards. It is such recruits who over the years had risen through the ranks, that are now occupying responsible positions. Their conduct has rubbed on their subordinates and as a result we have today a Police Department which is rotten to the core. Needless to state that discipline which was the by word of the Police Department has become a dirty word among its rank and file.

This is not the first time that Police officers were involved in treasure hunts. Names of several high ranking Police officers came to light in the case of the well-known treasure hunt in the deep interior of Agalawatte some two decades ago which was also linked to the political power of the day. Similarly, certain rogue Police officers have politicians to back them in their misdemeanours. As a result, we today face the risk of the destruction of our cultural sites and historical monuments by treasure hunters led by the Police. A funny case of the custodians of the law becoming the lawbreakers.

The Police have deteriorated on all fronts with indiscipline and recklessness evident all round. The recent death of a seven year old boy in Beruwela as a result indiscriminate Police firing on a bunch of cattle thieves is a good example. How responsible Police officers can justify opening fire in a busy town full of people in the quest to arrest some cattle thieves is indeed mind-boggling. There is also random killings of Police detainees while in custody and also the recently reported Police inaction when a group of illegal sand miners rescued their colleagues who were arrested by the Police. These incidents encapsulate the state of affairs of our Police Department.

Such incidents while placing the Police in bad light also naturally emboldens criminals and miscreants to take the law into their hands. A Police involvement in illegal actions such as treasure hunting is just the opening needed for criminals and anti-social elements to run amok.

This could start a dangerous trend with the public losing confidence in the Police as their protectors leading to a different fear psychosis. IGP Mahinda Balasuriya should at least now get his act together to get the Police Department back into right shape. Dilly-dallying and holding press conferences to defend the acts of his charges is not the right thing to do. As is obvious even to him the Police Department as it is, is moribund and losing direction. It needs a complete overhaul and a new outlook that would gain for it the lost confidence of the public.

The IGP ideally should start from scratch to revamp the service which has plunged too far into the depths for any patchwork remedies. Above all, he should restore lost public confidence in the Police Department by giving it a whole fresh image. It is important that the Police Department revisit its noble ideals and regain the lost prestige.

The Police no doubt played a not inconsiderable role in the battle against terrorism and deservedly won all public plaudits along with the tri forces. Hopefully it would not sully this public regard by acts of indiscipline and other misdemeanours of the kind that was reported from Dimbulagala.