Meechai to rejig police plan

Boonsrang reforms too kind to cops, he says

Proposals put forward by a previous police reform committee may not comply with the constitution and a new panel will be set up to revise them, says Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Meechai Ruchupan.

Mr Meechai, who also chairs a committee set up by the cabinet to consider a bill governing the Royal Thai Police, said yesterday the new panel will be set up to revise the proposals after the Songkran festival.

Mr Meechai insisted the panel can make changes to the police reform plan drawn up by the previous one chaired by former supreme commander Boonsrang Niumpradit.

“The previous police reform panel was too considerate towards police. This must be fixed. I am sure my panel will address the core of the problem without fear or favour and will stick to the constitution. This constitution attaches importance to reforms in two areas — education and police,” Mr Meechai said.

On July 4, 2017, the cabinet approved the establishment of a 36-member police reform committee in accordance with the new constitution which stipulates legal amendments to streamline the police force.

The committee was asked to zero in on the reform of three areas: police organisations, human resources and legal affairs.

The reform proposals will be included in the new bill on the Royal Thai Police.

Under the constitution, the panel must complete the reform process within one year of the charter being promulgated.

But since the panel was established three months after the charter came into force on April 6, 2017, it had only nine months left to complete its work.

According to the constitution, if legal amendments for police reform are not complete within the one-year time frame, police promotions and the annual reshuffle are supposed to be based mainly on candidates’ qualifications and seniority.

Addressing the issue, Mr Meechai said legislation associated with police reform is unlikely to be complete in time for the annual police reshuffle in October.

In light of this, the principle of seniority will apply to police promotions as stipulated by the constitution, he said.

Mr Meechai previously said that it was a priority to address unfair police promotions and police position-buying.

Several civil groups also have called for criminal investigations to be removed from police jurisdiction and conducted by other figures including professionals who possess sound legal knowledge in the interests of greater transparency and efficiency.

Some have proposed public prosecutors be absorbed into a new body that can look into criminal cases independently.

Addressing the problem of unfair police and reshuffle promotions, Manit Suksomjit, a former member of the police reform panel, said the panel’s proposals have not yet been put into action so it is hard to judge the merits of the proposals.

On the issue of removing criminal investiga-

CONSTITUTION DRAFTING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

tions from police, Mr Manit said that the panel listened to opinions from both the police and the public.

Police argued that investigations must be carried out in parallel with crime suppression work and separating them would lead to a lack of coordination and render work inefficent. But the public insisted that they must be separated completely, Mr Manit said.

However, the police reform panel tried to come up with a balanced approach blending the best ideas from both sides, he said.

One proposal is that investigators will be given a fair degree of independence in their work and chiefs of police stations are not allowed to meddle with their handling of investigations, except when there are complaints about slow progress or unfairness.

The police reform committee has also come up with clear proposals to help police officers to move up their career path, with measures to address the issue of officers being passed over for promotion by those with ties to senior officers, Mr Manit said.

Seree Suwannapanon, also a former member of the police reform panel, admitted the panel was “too considerate towards police” because more than half of panel members were police officers.

However, most of the panel’s proposals involve long-term reforms which are slow to yield results, Mr Seree said.

Some issues could have been solved quickly but the panel had failed to address them, which was not in compliance with the aim of the reform, Mr Seree said.

“There are constraints imposed by corporate culture deeply entrenched [in the police force]. The reform panel did its best,” Mr Seree said.

Mr Meechai has the best grasp of the police reform issue and the government and the National Council for Peace and Order will also have the final say on the matter if they consider the police reform panel’s proposals are not in accordance with the original objective, Mr Seree added.

I am sure my panel will address the core of the problem without fear or favour.

MEECHAI RUCHUPAN