One of the most important principles that should be in the minds of law enforcement authorities is that police officers are regarded as citizens in uniform. They exercise the power to police fellow citizens with the implicit consent of fellow citizens. ‘Policing by consent’ indicates that the legitimacy of policing in the eyes of the public is based on the general consensus of support that follows from the transparency of their powers, the integrity in exercising those powers and the accountability for doing so.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said earlier this week that law enforcement officers should carry out their duties without fear or favour, but their actions should strictly be in compliance with the law. He said arrests should be carried out only when absolutely necessary and in strict compliance with the law.
“As arrest is not part of the punishment and results in the serious deprivation of the liberty of citizens and other significant implications, such as loss of reputation and standing in society, arrest should be carried out only when absolutely necessary and upon a decision taken with utmost care and in strict compliance with the law,” President Rajapaksa instructed Acting Inspector General of Police Senior DIG C. D. Wickramaratne.
The President further directed the Police to ensure that the necessity to arrest be made entirely on professional judgment, and to apply the same, equally to all citizens of Sri Lanka without any discrimination whatsoever, and under no circumstances should it be carried out for extraneous purposes nor tolerate any undue influence.
The basic mission of the police is to prevent crime and disorder. However, the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent on public approval of their actions. That is a warning that the police should not act with over enthusiasm when implementing the utmost duty of prevention of crime and disorder to the extent that it earns them public disapproval.
The police must always keep in mind that the degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately with the necessity of the use of physical force. The police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to maintain law and order.
The police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
It is not only necessary for the law enforcement officers to act within the mandated power, they should also seem to act within that mandate. The police must refrain from acting as a law unto themselves. They should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.
The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.
Whether we like it or not, in this era of freedom of expression, the members of police and the government are being held accountable for activities that the media chooses to focus on. The public has more opportunity to review and scrutinize inappropriate, inefficient and illegal activity by these officials. Unfortunately, the activities of one police officer or government official could be extremely detrimental to an entire police force and the government.
The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions. With today’s media focusing on any questionable law enforcement or governmental activities, this is a changing task for police officials. Public cooperation is an essential component in policing. The public must be ready and able to accept the laws created by legislation. People will resist and make the duties of the police officers more difficult and at times impossible if the laws are unreasonable. Current technology and media advances allow communities to be made more aware of laws and the reasoning behind them.
Another important fact is that the police would not get public cooperation if there is strong evidence of the use of excessive power by them. The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity for the use of physical force. In other words the public is resistant to excessive force and the police will then earn public disapproval.
In the maintenance of law and order in a multi-ethnic society, the police force has a moral and ethical obligation to serve the public with impartiality based on race, finances, or politics. Any variation from this obligation would result in immediate public and media scrutiny in today’s world. Maintaining the same standards for everyone is important in the process and helps in establishing the respect of the community for the law enforcement and judicial systems.
Accordingly, the Police Spokesman states that a person is deemed to be innocent until proven guilty. Determination of guilt or not is the duty of the judiciary. Police and law enforcement agents are not expected to be part of the judicial system. That principle is explained as ‘police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.’