It is the profound desire of the people of Seychelles to have an effective and professional police force. We all want to feel secure in our homes and on the streets at all times. Ordinary people cannot afford private security, so they expect the police force they finance to be responsive and to give them a service they can count on.
We all recognise that there are very good officers. In my own dealings with the police, I have met many who are reassuring by their calmness and willingness to assist. When they succeed in dealing with a problem, they have our admiration. When lost items are recovered, when cases are solved, or when the innocent are protected and justice wins, we feel encouraged. These are the officers who have earned the respect of the people they serve. We have to keep encouraging them so that the transformation of the police force continues, to the extent that anyone wanting to join will not see it as an authoritarian body, but rather as a people-centred organisation.
However, we all feel discouraged when police officers get it wrong. When officers feel they can take the law in their own hands and get away with it, the force loses its objectives, and the people lose trust in those who are supposed to protect them. It is a case where a couple of bad apples can spoil the whole bag.
We have always spoken of an independent, professional and effective force, free from all political influence. I believe these are the objectives we should set for the police and all other disciplinary forces. We are still far from attaining them, thus while we praise when good work is done, we also have to bring out the failures in order for all of us to see the way forward.
Some officers have recently been told their services are no longer required. They have not been given any particular reason as to why their employment is being stopped. Given the history of such unjustified terminations in the past, one can only see in them political motives. After all, this is what was found when officers in the past brought their cases to court and won. The question therefore is whether we are seeing another round of political interference in the force?
If there was an issue with the work of these officers, the only approach should have been to call them in and assess their work. They at least deserve a warning and an explanation of what they have done wrong. But when someone reports for duty and is told he has to hand in his resignation or face being sacked, this is definitely not the right approach. Our country will now see another group of police officers go to court and seek redress.
Worrying incidents involving the police lately continue. One involves an accident on Praslin in which a police vehicle being driven at high speed by a police officer hit a 4yr old boy. The boy is still fighting for his life in the ICU, and the police officer has been transferred. The circumstances of the accident reveal that serious disciplinary action should have been taken already. On the scene the officer is even reported to have threatened people with his pistol. Is this not a case of a police officer abusing his position?
The other incident occurred over the weekend at Quincy Village, when two pensioners seriously injured through unjustified police actions.
A good police force is part of the foundations of an effective state. Without these men and women in uniform performing their duties properly and ensuring the rule of law, our country will not function properly.
A good police force starts by ensuring that discipline becomes the corner stone of the organisation. We can move forward. In order to achieve this, we have to take politics out of the force and let professionalism take over.
We all recognise that there are very good officers. In my own dealings with the police, I have met many who are reassuring by their calmness and willingness to assist. When they succeed in dealing with a problem, they have our admiration. When lost items are recovered, when cases are solved, or when the innocent are protected and justice wins, we feel encouraged. These are the officers who have earned the respect of the people they serve. We have to keep encouraging them so that the transformation of the police force continues, to the extent that anyone wanting to join will not see it as an authoritarian body, but rather as a people-centred organisation.
However, we all feel discouraged when police officers get it wrong. When officers feel they can take the law in their own hands and get away with it, the force loses its objectives, and the people lose trust in those who are supposed to protect them. It is a case where a couple of bad apples can spoil the whole bag.
We have always spoken of an independent, professional and effective force, free from all political influence. I believe these are the objectives we should set for the police and all other disciplinary forces. We are still far from attaining them, thus while we praise when good work is done, we also have to bring out the failures in order for all of us to see the way forward.
Some officers have recently been told their services are no longer required. They have not been given any particular reason as to why their employment is being stopped. Given the history of such unjustified terminations in the past, one can only see in them political motives. After all, this is what was found when officers in the past brought their cases to court and won. The question therefore is whether we are seeing another round of political interference in the force?
If there was an issue with the work of these officers, the only approach should have been to call them in and assess their work. They at least deserve a warning and an explanation of what they have done wrong. But when someone reports for duty and is told he has to hand in his resignation or face being sacked, this is definitely not the right approach. Our country will now see another group of police officers go to court and seek redress.
Worrying incidents involving the police lately continue. One involves an accident on Praslin in which a police vehicle being driven at high speed by a police officer hit a 4yr old boy. The boy is still fighting for his life in the ICU, and the police officer has been transferred. The circumstances of the accident reveal that serious disciplinary action should have been taken already. On the scene the officer is even reported to have threatened people with his pistol. Is this not a case of a police officer abusing his position?
The other incident occurred over the weekend at Quincy Village, when two pensioners seriously injured through unjustified police actions.
A good police force is part of the foundations of an effective state. Without these men and women in uniform performing their duties properly and ensuring the rule of law, our country will not function properly.
A good police force starts by ensuring that discipline becomes the corner stone of the organisation. We can move forward. In order to achieve this, we have to take politics out of the force and let professionalism take over.
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