A people friendly police
Recently IGP N.K. Illangakoon has referred to bringing the police force under a single corporate plan to be more people friendly.
He is not the first IGP to speak about creating a people friendly police force , but the protests even against the police by the people are evident that something is seriously wrong with the attitude of the police in their dealings with the common citizen. Further it is a dangerous situation when the police had to call on the army to assist them to clear the Colombo Kataragama Road when there was a people protest on concerns regarding Sooriyawewa . As one protester loudly remarked ‘Is this govt. now going to use the army against its own people.”.
Essentially the police should be given a proper training regarding dealing with the public. The number of deaths of persons in police custody the allegations of brutalization and the horrific incidents of policemen beating a man and preventing him coming to the shore and the tragedy that happened to two youth at Angulana , certainly will not make the people confident that they will be given a fair hearing by the police.
Perhaps this attitude of the police is a hangover of the JVP insurgency in the late 1980’s when they just eliminated anyone suspected of being a JVP. Since then no proper training programme or code of conduct has been prepared for the police to start changing their mind set. They assume that their uniform will give them the needed power to treat people as they will.
Today the first policeman that the ordinary citizens meet are the traffic constable. These constables, many of them very young and arrogant in the pow- er they have been given to collect fines from breakers of traffic rule are hell bent on collecting the fines, and invariably when they stop some vehicle to ask the driver for his license etc, act as if he has no right to even ask what traffic law he has violated. Woe betide the driver who questions the traffic constable he will answered in brashly and told in no uncertain terms that he has violated the traffic laws and he has to be fined or charged. Sometimes it happens that the driver has just stopped at a no parking area merely to drop an elderly or disabled person and has no intention of parking there but that reason does not concern the traffic constable .He has parked maybe just for a minute , but he must be charged no excuses accepted! The IGP will perhaps be scandalized if he hears the language used by these constables on three wheel driver , the most obscene language is used and the man can say nothing in reply for if he does he does not know what other punishment is in store for him.! Then there are eagle eyed constables watching traffic crossings and wore betide if an elderly citizen uses a place just a little away from the crossing making use of the break in traffic to cross the road. The language used to reprimand him is totally unbecoming of a police force that is said to be trying to be people friendly. Another set of police who come in direct contact with the people are the environmental police constables and they depending on the house they visit act according to those in the poorer areas get blasted in gross language while those whose houses appear to belong to the middle or upper middle class are gently told to keep their gardens clean.
In fact the IGP if he could go incognito and hear the language used by the police officers who are the first contact point with the people would realize that they are badly in need o being taught manners . One tends to wonder whether the words please or thank you have ever been heard by them! Hence it sure is necessary to bring in a code of ethics firstly to make a people friendly police.
In fact even in police stations the attitude of the officers need to be changed Often a number of people are waiting to make complaints or ask for some information but only a couple of officers are at their desks. Furthermore very often he Inspector in charge of the station has gone on inspection or whatever and cannot be contacted, Recently a member of the clergy was telling me that he had to wait almost an hour at the Police station to make some complaint or other, The Police officers should be taught the basics of courtesy to give the clergy senior citizens etc priority.
The attitude of a Police Inspector of a suburb in the Western Province shows that if a Police officer has patience and is able to communicate with confidence he can change the attitude of protesters who surrounded the Police station regarding a delay in the inquiry of the death of a person in custody and send them away since they believed he will take the necessary action. Hence there are in the police force certain officers with integrity and ability to deal with protesters instead of waiting till they congregate in large numbers and then use tear gas and barricades to prevent them reaching their goals, In fact the settlement of those who had been dismissed from service in the 1980 strike could have been achieved if the decision had been given earlier instead of using barricades and having ugly photographs of the police attempting toe prevent their march.
The IGP too should visit the remand jails in most police stations especially around Colombo which are rats and cockroach invested with unworkable toilets and he will then realize how difficult it is for the people to consider the police in any friendly matter. It will certainly be a long journey for the IGP to create a people friendly police force but he can start by getting senior officers and those retired with impeccable service to hold six month courses at the Police Training school for the young traffic constables and those manning police stations. That would be a beginning for essentially some of the young police officers are polite and understanding but they tend to emulate certain elders who make them feel that the uniform should be a symbol of fear and arrogance.