Police revert to traditional role

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

The Police Department has been called upon to rise from its prolonged security based duties to discharge more effectively its primary duty of maintaining law and order and preserving the peace.

The scope and the nature of police duties are currently being transformed into a well-functioning force of law enforcement to be tied with crime control and law and order maintenance on Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s direction.

Police Administration Senior DIG N K Illangakoon told the Daily News yesterday that heads of all Police Departments have been apprised on the importance of becoming functionally oriented at law enforcement and crime control following Defence Ministry instructions.

The police are focusing on carrying out normal police duties to maintain peace after their prolonged role with the military in the past.

Ilangakoon said the police duties had to shift into policing society and crime from what it had been during the period of war with strongly perceived threats to national security from terrorists. The policing during the time of war was closely associated with security concerns. The police were on security based duties rather than on normal law enforcement duties, he said.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has reportedly introduced additional training programs for police personnel in 2011 with a focus to normalize police duties .

Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya has arranged special crime investigation and traffic management training programs for police personnel. The programs are envisioned to encourage police personnel to pay attention on enforcing law and order.

Included among the training programs are Tamil language training programs, said Ilangakoon. New recruits as well as police officers on duty had to undergo training.

The aim is to establish law and order in a post war setting, he added.