The daunting labours for the new IGP

Mr. Lakdasa Victor Kodituwakku takes over the office of Inspector General of Police at a time when public confidence in the police force has dropped to a level well below zero.

Mr. Kodituwakku need not be told that the crime wave which has been soaring during the past two decades is reaching new heights and it could well be that we are at the critical point in the breakdown of law and order. The Island has been consistently commenting on the increasing lawlessness in the country and the victimised public having little or no recourse to the law.

For sometime Sri Lanka has been witnessing crimes, which were of rare occurrence, becoming a very regular feature of Sri Lankan life. One such crime is the abduction and raping of women, quite often while the helpless public looks on. Sometime ago we commented on a middle-aged lady being dragged out of the bus stop opposite St Anthony's Church , Kochikade while the streets were packed with people, into a three-wheeler. She was taken to a lonely spot in Wattala and gang raped by three men. The police, to our knowledge, have not yet been able to apprehend the rapists.It is no exaggeration to say that no woman is safe walking the streets of Colombo or even while travelling in taxis. All this is in an age where we speak of sexual harassment in offices being crimes. Ask a woman who commutes to work by bus about the vulgar acts committed to them by perverts. The police service which is supposed to protect the people have not yet reported the apprehension of one such pervert and prosecuted in courts. The reason has been the sheer lackadaisical attitude of police top brass.

Men, women and children are subject to the most violent of crimes in the streets, Jewellery, handbags, purses and wristwatches are snatched away even though there are enough and more policemen and armed servicemen seen on the streets.The most glaring example of crime on the streets is the killing of Assistant Superintendent of Police, ( Crimes) Colombo North , Mr Shanti Kumar on the streets of Colombo, with a grenade by underworld characters. Only last week the sad and grisly murder of the son of a very prominent businessman, once again on the streets of Colombo, was reported.

While in a few instances, the culprits are arrested, more often than not the police appear to be impotent to act or just do not give a damn. A journalist living in Nawala had his house cleaned out during the day, on two occasions, but all the police did was to ask him whether he had any suspects to name! The inability of the police to act against criminals has given the public the impression that there is connivance between the police and criminals.

Further evidence for this was the recent transfer of a large number if policemen from Colombo and the suburbs because of their suspected links with the underworld.

The excuse trotted out for all this is: Terrorism-- the war .True, long years of terrorism have resulted in criminals acquiring more sophisticated weapons and the open economy providing more attractive targets. There are other factors such as the politicisation of criminals and criminalisation of politicians. An officer- in- charge of a police station saluting a noted killer, was reported in UNP times. Things have not changed . Criminals, thugs and politicians in power are in cahoots

Mr. Kodituwakku has a task even more daunting than the Labours of Hercules. He needs the assistance of the president who is the head of the police service. The service has to be cleansed of rotten eggs, better pay given to lower ranks, police officers doing their job be protected from politicians in power, and an adequate cadre be given for the maintenance of law and order..

Wherever the demands made by terrorism and protection of VIPs may be, we emphasise that the primary duty of the police is to protect citizens. Every police station got to have an adequate number of police for crime prevention and detection. This is of prime and much greater importance than protecting corrupt politicians from the people whom they are supposed to represent. A determined effort has to be made by the new IGP to fight this crime wave. And it would have to include new strategies such as mobile patrolling of streets on vehicles. Today's criminals are mobile.

Finally the IGP should overhaul the entire Traffic Department. Today, traffic policemen are more of a nuisance than helping motorists or pedestrians. This is to be seen in the colossal traffic jams not only in the City of Colombo but even in areas like Dehiwela-Mt Lavinia and Rajagiriya. Let not the ' war' be an excuse for traffic jams too !