Police abuse a serious problem

A REPORT from the Ombudsman Commission says the police force is the State agency that most people complain about in the country.
The report says that in 2015, there were a total of 168 complaints against the police – an increase of 31 on the previous year.
Police abuse is a serious problem.
It has a long history, and it seems to defy all attempts at eradication.
The problem is national: No police station in the country is known to be completely free of misconduct.
We’d like to see that this situation is not hopeless. Policing has seen progress in some areas.
Today, among both officials and rank and file officers, it is widely recognised that police brutality hinders good law enforcement.
Police brutality is an ongoing issue that makes newspaper headlines both locally and internationally.
Issues highlighted are inherited chronic problems and it would be interesting to see how the police pinister takes this issue on, knowing that he is a former reserve policeman himself.
He obviously knows the challenges an officer faces every day, like having no vehicle for officers to conduct patrols, salaries and poor resourcing.
Putting aside these challenges, police are there to uphold the law in a community, uphold peace and be agents of change.
While many practise their oath in their daily conduct while on duty, a few go off-track and they are the ones who have to be brought back into line.
The public must understand that there is a way to hold officers accountable for their actions and the people should not be afraid to use it.
All police departments have methods of taking civilians’ complaints about police officers. Usually these complaints are referred to as internal affairs complaints.
These complaints are investigated by other police officers.
Filing an internal complaint is the only avenue that can lead to a police officer being disciplined or terminated, apart from a criminal conviction, which, very rarely happens.
The standard procedure is when a complaint has been lodged at the police station against a police officer who has broken the law, the police station commander or officer in charge will formally charge the officer under the country’s law.
The standard practice is if an internal complaint is not sustained, it usually stays in the officer’s personnel file.
In a properly run police department, the fact that an officer has attracted a large number of complaints should trigger closer scrutiny.
Knowing that it is difficult to win the public’s trust and confidence, some provincial commanders have taken the step to introduce various programmes and operations as a way of showing their community that they are there to help.
These officers’ and many others’ need must be supported by way of ensuring funding is allocated to see through the plan.
If there are leaders who have the vision to make a difference, they must be supported with logistics and funding and this is where the minister and commissioner must come in.