Daily News Editorial

Police Code of Conduct

 26 August 2016

The Police-public relationship sank to the lowest possible depths as Police became a totally supine arm of the State during the previous administration. The negative perceptions about the Police among the people are very hard to efface despite numerous public relations exercises by the Police. The conduct of the Police in several high profile cases has come in for flak in the media and their assertions have been vindicated by evidence surfacing in some of the court cases now underway.

In this context, the unveiling of a Code of Conduct for Police Officers by the National Police Commission (NPC) could not have come at a more opportune time. One of the main priorities of this Government was giving a totally new outlook to the Police, to make it truly independent and highly efficient. The previous Government had allowed the term of the NPC to lapse and the 18th Amendment effectively disbanded all Independent Commissions thereby taking an independent oversight mechanism away from the Police. However, the NPC was reactivated as part of the 19th Amendment and Police was again granted its due independence. It could once again act impartially, without being subservient to the Government or individuals in power.

The Police is one of the foremost public institutions in Sri Lanka, due to turn 150 years on September 3. However, it did not have a written Code of Conduct until now. Although some of the laws, regulations and guidelines were already included in the Police Ordinance Number 16 of 1965, (itself now over 50 years old), there was a dire need to update many of these to suit modern requirements. Today, policing has become a vast, diverse field with the infusion of new technologies and techniques and our Police force has to keep up with the times.

We hope that the new Code of Conduct incorporates steps that ensure a full stop to corruption at all levels of the Police force. We often hear of motorists who apparently “shaped up” their fines and tickets with traffic police personnel through monetary or other incentives. Higher rewards from traffic tickets and higher salaries overall have addressed this problem somewhat but more action needs to be taken. Granted, the Police force is not the only Government institution where this problem exists, but it stands out due to its everyday interactions with the public. With promotions being a vexed issue in the force, adherence to the Code of Conduct must be a benchmark for same.

The Police must also end the impunity granted to its own personnel when it comes to traffic and other offences. We have seen plenty of Police cars and motorcycles breaking road rules with apparent impunity. No traffic officer dares to stop a senior police officer’s car which runs a red light. Parking in a no parking zone or the pavement? No problem if you are a Police officer. Talking on the phone while driving? No problem if you are a police officer and the list goes on. If all policemen and women are truly independent, such abnormalities cannot happen.

The Police must also get its priorities right. Ensuring road safety is no doubt a very important aspect of police work, but one wonders whether it is necessary to have traffic policemen literally every few metres in Colombo and other cities on duty every morning and night. What is the purpose of having a traffic officer in the middle of the road waving to traffic to pass by? The traffic will flow anyway. They also create chaos by turning off perfectly functioning traffic lights at busy junctions and trying to control the traffic manually. The truth is that no policeman can match the accuracy and efficiency of traffic signals, which also have the advantage of not getting tired, hungry, angry or bored. Just let the lights do their work - and as a bonus, traffic policemen can nab any drivers who run red lights. This brings us to the question of traffic policemen who like to hide behind trees and suddenly spring on to the road to nab oncoming drivers – there simply is no need to do so. They will be more effective out in the open, visible to motorists who will then be more careful.

If so many policemen are on traffic duty, are there enough personnel for busting crime? Fighting crime should be still the primary focus of the police force. This is part legwork, part intelligence gathering. The Police must deploy the maximum amount of resources to fight crime. Police intelligence and investigative arms such as NIB, CID, FCID and CCD must be strengthened to fight crime, drugs and other vice. The Police must also expand international cooperation with Interpol and other agencies to fight trans-national crime such as narcotics smuggling. International terrorism is another challenge for our police sleuths. Policing is never easy – it is a thankless 24/7 job, but a Code of Conduct will create a clearer picture of what is expected from them.