A people-friendly community police soon - Defence Secretary

Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE

The Police service will be changed to a people-friendly community police, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said.

The Defence Secretary was addressing a gathering at a ceremony organized to present certificates to 20 officers of the Police Life Saving Unit.

The Police officers had successfully completed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training jointly conducted by the World Health Organization and a private organization named MEDI Limited.

The MEDI training institute is the only institute in Sri Lanka accredited by the American Safety and Health Institute and the Australasian Registry of Emergence Technicians (AREMT).

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka police have been engaged in anti-terrorism activities for nearly three decades.

”As a result, policemen in Sri Lanka received training in weapon handling” he said.

“Though the main service of police is to maintain law and order, Sri Lanka policemen had to engage in anti-terrorism activities including providing protection to people. Therefore, policemen will receive training aiming to convert a community police which is bound to carry out duties in the police service” he added.

The Defence Secretary said that the police have to provide the people with a better service. “It has been reported that public confidence on police is deteriorating. Building confidence is the responsibility of the police. The police have to make an effort to strengthen confidence among the people,” he said.

He said that the public who take the law into their hands will be subjected to the civil law in the country. Speaking about the grease yaka incidents, he said that no one has a right to go beyond the country’s law.

The police officers who received certificates yesterday have undergone a professional training on lifesaving.