‘SOCO OFFICERS USING OUTDATED EQUIPMENT’

Retired Police Commissioner of Sweden M. Lanceburg said that the equipment used by the Police to conduct investigations at scenes of crime were outdated and that the Police Department should pay attention on providing modern equipment to the SOCO ( Scene of Crime Officers) units to conduct their investigations more efficiently.

Delivering the keynote address in the annual conference of the SOCO units held at the Provincial Council auditorium in Kurunegala, he said that he was pleased of make his comments on the SOCO units of the Sri Lanka Police.

Senior DIG North Western and North Central Divisions

Senior DIG North Western and North Central Divisions Jagath Abeysiriwardene represented IGP Pujith Jayasundara who was to be the chief guest

Jagath Abeysiriwardene represented IGP Pujith Jayasundara who was to be the chief guest.

The former Swedish Police Commissioner pointed out that the SOCO units were facing hardship for want of adequate vehicles to travel to difficult areas and that sophisticated equipment including computers should be available to the officers.

“The digital cameras used by the officers are more than ten years old. It is not possible to carry out their duties efficiently with defective equipment. However, I noticed that the officials cooperate with the senior police officials, the Government Analysts, and Magistrates which is commendable. I was also pleased to find that case productions are well protected. I find that the SOCO units should function as a separate unit and not as a branch of the Crime Division.” he further said.

Dr. Ruwan Ileperuma of the GENETEC Institute, Addl. Govt. Analyst D.M.L.W. Jayakanna JMO Kuliyapitiya Base Hospital Dr, Ajith Jayasena, Director Crime Investigation Division SP Jagath Seram were present at the occasion.