Opinion
Is the Sri Lanka Police in need of further training
‘Man, when perfected is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice he is the worst of all’Aristotle- Politics.
In pursuance of the notion of making Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia, this article attempts to reflect on the aspirations of the Sri Lankan society, 
among other things, to bring forward suggestions for the elimination or reduction of malpractices such as bribery and corruption, political violence and fear psychosis, activities of the underworld, drug menace, police brutality and indiscipline, poverty and abject misery and more. Our society like any other in the world would aspire for the development of the economy, advancement of scientific research and technology, improvement of health and educational facilities, development of infrastructure and other factors necessary for the well being of the society in general.
Police brutality
Today, the focus is on police brutality and indiscipline, which in recent times have become apparent due to many incidents that have taken place in the past few months. Society looks up to the Police as the guardians of law and order, who would safeguard the citizens’ rights and grant them protection from the illegal activities of the criminals. At the inception, we pay a tribute to our new Inspector General of Police, who has displayed his devotion to public duty by commencing his work as the Inspector General of Police by distributing the excess vehicles allocated to him to the more deserving police divisions, which were in need of such vehicles.
The incident of shooting by the police causing the death of an innocent youth in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone during a protest against the new pension scheme introduced by the government was a tragic incident that led to the enragement of the public resulting in the destruction or causing of damages to some police vehicles and a building. This event led to the resignation of the former IGP. As seen in this most unfortunate incident although it is the accepted norm in armed forces and the police that ‘comply and complain’ is the policy to be adopted in the case of unreasonable orders given by superior officers, it is evident that the said practice can give rise to irreparable disasters such as the death of the youth referred to above. If an order were to be given by an enraged superior officer, who had been struck by some object thrown by a protestor, to shoot live bullets at a gathering of unarmed protestors, who did not pose a threat to the lives of the police officers, such order should not be carried out as the execution of such an order amounts to a criminal offence. To quell such riots the police are well equipped with water canon and tear gas canisters. They also carry wicker shields and batons for the said purpose.The police training course should provide an in depth understanding of handling such situations and maintenance of self discipline in remaining calm in the face of grave adversity.
Deaths in police custody
There were several instances of deaths of persons in police custody, such as those at the Angulana Police Station and more recently in Dompe reported in the media. These deaths resulted in a public outcry against the police resulting in damages to public property in the care of the police. All the suspects arrested in the Angulana Police murder case which included the Officer-in-Charge were sentenced to death. Last week another suspect accused of murdering a police constable at Moratuwa reportedly committed suicide by jumping in to the Bolgoda lake after the murder weapon was recovered by the police from the lake. The Police are well aware of the provisions against illegal arrest and detention and prohibition of degrading and cruel treatment found in Articles 13 and 12 respectively of the present (1978) Constitution. The multitude of fundamental rights applications before the Supreme Court alleging violations of these rights by the police bear testimony to the fact that some police officers have no qualms in breaching these provisions. The reason for assault of suspects by the police is mainly due to the inexperience or lack of training of police officers in the art of interrogating a suspect without causing physical harm to such suspects. Modern methods of interrogation involving lie detector tests and other tactful methods of eliciting information should be included in the training course given to police officers. A separate unit has to be set up to examine whether the officers on duty manning the police stations are under the influence of liquor especially in the evenings.
Most of the terrible offences are committed by officers, who are under the influence of liquor and the services of such officers should be terminated with immediate effect, which action would help to eradicate this menace. Inflicting torture by means of the infamous water barrel immersion, rotating the suspect tied to a wheel known to the police as the ‘dhramachakra treatment’, inhalation of chilli powder by a suspect hanging from the roof with his legs tied up to a rafter should be prohibited under a circular sent to all police stations. The other drawback is the temptation of bribery and corruption of police officers resulting in the non performance or irregular performance of their functions. Such temptation can take many forms such as financial benefits, offer of liquor, gifts and/or last but not least the temptation of the flesh. The malaise of bribery and corruption would be dealt with in another discussion in the future. Another disastrous situation arises when police officers ignore or fail to carry out their functions due to fear of reprisals from powerful politicians or those above them in authority. This leads to a breakdown of the public confidence in the police and thereby undermines that pristine principle of the rule of law.
Shooting a superior officer
A startling case of indiscipline was discerned in the case of a Chief Inspector of Police shooting his superior officer, an Assistant Superintendent of Police of the STF at Mahaoya to death and then committing suicide by shooting himself in the head. These unfortunate incidents left two families destitute by the loss of their fathers to the children and husbands to the wives,The absence of mutual understanding and respect for each other resulted in these untimely deaths. Superior officers should be trained to treat their subordinates with respect so as not to demean the dignity of such officers by sarcastic unwarranted criticism especially in the presence of others. It should be understood by the superior officers that they can not demand respect from sub-ordinates but should command their respect by the exemplary conduct of such superior officers.
While the foregoing suggestions have been made in good faith in order to bring our police service to a high standard, it must be mentioned here that a good majority of our police officers are law abiding men and women, who perform their duties conscientiously without whom our society would be in great peril.
Let me conclude in a lighter vein with this humourous episode of a policeman on the beat in London and an American tourist, thus:
An American tourist in London wanders around, seeing the sights and occasionally stopping at some small pub to have a pint of beer. After a while, he finds himself in a very nice neighbourhood with stately residences. No pubs, no restaurants, and worst of all no public restrooms. However, he really has to ease himself, after all those pints of beer. He finds a narrow side street, with high walls surrounding the adjacent buildings and decides to use the wall to solve his problem.
He is tapped on the shoulder by a London Bobby, who says, “Sir, you simply cannot do that here.”
“I’m very sorry, officer,” replies the American, “but I really have to ease myself, and I just can’t find a public restroom.”
“Just follow me” says the Bobby. Then he leads the American to a back delivery alley to a gate, which he opens. “In there,” points the Bobby, “whiz away sir, anywhere you like.”
The fellow enters and finds himself in the most beautiful garden he has ever seen. Manicured grass lawns, big fountains, sculptured hedges, and huge beds of flowers.
He relieves himself immediately. As he goes back through the gate, he says to the Bobby “That was really nice of you. Is that what you call English hospitality? ”
“No sir…” replied the Bobby, “that is what we call the American Embassy.”
The morale of this story is let us not desecrate our beautiful little island, the pearl of the Indian ocean with malpractices such as those stated at the beginning of this piece.
Lakshman Keerthisinghe, LL.B., LL.M. is an Attorney-at-Law and a former senior consultant in the Law Reform Project funded by the UNDP for the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka