Meechai committee looks at downsizing

The committee on a new police reform bill has suggested downsizing police agencies by transferring “non-police missions” to local administrative bodies.

Committee spokesman Kamnoon Sidhisamarn yesterday defined those missions as work that is not directly related to criminal investigations. They include public services, administrative work and some jobs such as traffic control, he said.

The transfers must not affect the public and cause too much of a budget burden on the government, Mr Kamnoon added, stressing only local authorities qualified to do the tasks can do so.

It is a way to “streamline police force so that officers can fully cope with their main jobs”, Mr Kamnoon said.

The committee is also considering making changes to criminal offences. Punishments for some crimes, which are not serious, may be changed or even revoked as this can be another way to reduce the police workload, he said.

However, the committee has no plans to transfer investigative work to other state agencies. This idea can lead to problems as new investigation units will be established under many agencies.

“That,” Mr Kamnoon said, “will only create a new type of hell for people.”

He said once police work is clearly defined, the committee will take the next step to consider restructuring the police force.

These proposals are based on a fresh move to deal with complaints about a heavy workload and a personnel shortage in the police force, committee chairman Meechai Ruchupan said.

The panel was recently set up by the cabinet out of a need to make changes to a previous police reform plan written by another committee led by former supreme commander Boonsrang Niumpradit.

Mr Meechai, also chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, commented some of the proposals in that reform plan were “too considerate” toward police and had to be fixed.

He said his team studied all the previous reform proposals and found that they, including those drawn up by Gen Boonsrang’s committee, only identified problems without detailing solutions.

Most of them only said it was necessary to solve the problems by “freeing up the police”, according to Mr Meechai.