Towards community policing in Sri Lanka

According to the Criminal Procedure Code, ‘peace officers’ include police officers. Hence keeping the peace is a duty of police officers.

When Sir Robert Peel established the London Metropolitan Police in 1829, he set forth a number of principles, one of which he considered the seed of community policing: “The police are the public and the public are the police.” These words are implicit and explicit. The idea is community policing. But community policing does not suit lawyers. Since that date, however, the quest for the role of the police has become an elusive concept even to warrant writing this article. But defining the role of the police has become all so important for this very reason.

The adage of

Peel was in an independent country to suit its purpose. In colonial and post-colonial countries such as Sri Lanka, however, events took a different turn. Leslie Sebba of the Hebrew University helped in this regard with his studies worldwide: The elite since independence took power over the reins from the imperial powers. A gap then grew between the ruling elite and the community -- and with it the meaning of the role of the police changed. The fissure was so inviting that other discrepancies could creep through in this disparate system, even contrived by law professionals.

Laws delay is symptomatic of this disparate system. Delays are not just the inevitable, but as may be manipulated. Laws delay has persisted in the past two or three decades, in a thriving market society. Much of it is now up to a buying and selling process. Manipulating delay is remunerative and endears not to the public and the community.

With such afflictions to the maxim offered by Peel, only a competent review of the whole process can help in a manner that the public can be served, less trammeled by vested interests comfortable with the system.

For such a review, may I offer some suggestions for community policing: Police agencies should not allow political leaders and the public to develop unrealistic expectations for community policing in terms of crime deterrence or speed of implementation. Community policing calls for long-term commitment, it is not a quick fix. Achieving ongoing partnerships with the community and eradicating the underlying causes of crime will take planning, flexibility, time and patience. Management can measure progress by their success in meeting interim goals and must reinforce the concept inside and outside the organisation so that success is reached through a series of gradual improvements.

Local political leadership may be eager for fast results. But this is a long-term exercise. It must be stressed that success of community policing depends on sustained joint efforts of the police, local government, public and private agencies and members of the community.

From the late nineteen-fifties up to 1972, community policing was done quite successfully in Sri Lanka. But alas! The 1972 Republican Constitution introduced control of the Police by the Cabinet of Ministers, abandoning the neutrality of the Police Service.

Now with an Independent Police Commission to ensure the independence of the police, the police service should be revamped and trained anew to perform its due function. This is necessary because during the 30 years of war the police had been militarised.

Past police gazettes and departmental orders will readily help to prepare syllabuses. The syllabuses could be so prepared to suit the present conditions.

(The writer is a Retired Senior Superintendent of Police. He can be contacted at seneviratnetz@ gmail.com)