Sunday Times 2
Unharnessed wealth of resources available to Police Chief
Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon is held in high esteem as a police officer of high integrity. He has served in the police Special Task Force (STF) with distinction. However, he lacks the experience of being an officer in charge of a police station, police district, police division or police range, where investigations are carried out strictly confining to procedures laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is this experience, one is honed as an all round police officer.
This should be no bar to being a successful IGP if he consults or listens to those who could advise him. Even IGPs blessed with all round experience — who I had the experience to work with — listened patiently to others, including those of the lower ranks, who could contribute useful ideas, may it pertain to welfare, administration or the application of the law. In matters of legal implication, they always consulted the Attorney General.
As for retired senior police officers with a wealth of experience, there is former IGP Ana Seneviratne, who joined the Police with LlB (Hons.) and has gone through the mill in every sense of the phrase. Then there is former IGP Dr. Frank de Silva, a keen exponent of the rule of law. Retired S/DIG Leo Perera, a practising lawyer who has concern for uplifting the morale of the police, is also available for useful contribution, just to mention a few.
Finding the time to listen to useful input that is available to the IGP will help him avert situations such as the one that has arisen over the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID). Investigations carried out by the CID are of paramount importance to the country and it would be a great pity if the culprits are allowed to escape due to expedient actions on the part of the Government and the IGP.
I had occasion to ask several members of the Association of (Retired) Chiefs of Police (ACP) that comprises retired IGPs, S/DIGs and DIGs, why they do not contribute their input to the present IGP. The answer was that he does not consult and has not even acknowledged written inputs. “One can take the horse to the water but one cannot make it drink,” one retired senior officer lamented.
We, retired police officers, who are interested in reviving the past glory of the police, urge the IGP to find the time, maybe monthly, to listen to a delegation from the ACP on matters pertaining to the Police, especially during this turbulent period. The ACP could, in turn, build a rapport with retired police officers of all ranks and obtain their input as well strictly keeping out of party politics in this endeavour. Decisions of course would remain the prerogative of the IGP.
(The writer is a former Chairman of the Police Inspectors’ Association, former Chairman of the Police Central Welfare Council and former Personal Staff Officer to the IGP – Retired SSP)