In an apparent desperate bid to stem the runaway killing spree, particularly in the Western and Southern Provinces, the Police are now asking potential victims of gunmen to seek Police protection if they perceive a threat to their lives from any quarter.
Police say the lack of interest and/or reluctance by those against whom possible threats to their lives exist, to inform the Police about such threats, are hampering the Police drive to apprehend the killers.
Speaking to the media, Police Spokesman Attorney-at-Law SSP Nihal Talduwa said, “there are two ways to know if someone is having a threat. One is through a complaint from the individual under threat. The other is for someone with this information to contact the Police”. He said if none of this happens there is no way for the Police to find out about the threat to the individual(s) concerned.
This just about sums the Police attitude in the present day towards combating crime - both petty and major. This is the case not just with threat to life but even in the case of ordinary felons such as thefts, burglary and even chain snatching.
The first thing the Police will ask those who come to the Police station with the complaint is whether they suspect anyone or to name any notorious figure in the area. How is the victim supposed to know the identity of those who break into their homes in their absence from home or while asleep? As to the other instance will any complainant stick their necks out and name the ‘notorious figure’ knowing the repercussions in store.
No. The police are there to find out the culprits on their own volition. That is what they have been trained for. They are not supposed to take the easy way out by calling on the victims to provide them with information. This will only make the victims sitting ducks for the criminals.
We have had exceptional sleuths in the Police Force in the past who were responsible for solving many major crimes on their own initiatives through sheer skill and brilliance. These cases were solved by investigators with hardly any assistance from the public but through their own resourcefulness. This, at a time when scientific methods of detection that are now available such as DNA testing were nowhere on the horizon.
That is why we have been repeatedly saying in these columns that the Police Service should be upgraded and geared to meet modern challenges, with crime today taking on new dimensions with the advent of the drugs element. So long as the Police Service is stacked with political appointees, inefficiency and a laid back approach will be the inevitable result. The Police should seek the would-be perpetrators of crime and murder on their own steam.
Besides, as the Police spokesman said most of the targets are reluctant to come forward about threats to their lives because what is taking place are turf wars between drug lords resulting in bloodletting, and also revenge killings.
Therefore, would-be victims too have a lot to hide and the last thing they would do is seek Police protection lest their own role in crime and drug related activities, be exposed. The Police spokesman also made a telling admission when he said; “There is a limit to what we can do. For instance, it is not possible to deploy officers with weapons for them. It is not possible to provide officers to those who commit certain crimes. They too would not like to have officers (guarding them) as their activities may be exposed. Instead we can increase patrols around the residential areas of the relevant individuals and advise them to be cautious”.
Isn't this an admission that the Police are well aware of criminal activities of such individuals and have done nothing to investigate their role in crime? True, Police sometimes cultivate the acquaintance of known felons in order to facilitate their work. But this is strictly in relation to petty crime such as pickpockets and snatch thieves etc. But what we are dealing with here is big time crime such as murder and drug trafficking.
There can be no liaison by the police with such elements. Not by a long way. We always hear Police spokesmen come out with aliases of known criminals such as harak kata, booru moona et al on television. They belong to a special category unlike those involved in petty crime, and are known to the Police, including their whereabouts.
Add new comment