Political favour has weakened Police, and confidence will not return until enforcement of discipline without interference
by Mahil Dole Senior Superintendent of Police (Retd.) A police service may defend an officer or an action only when the facts support that defence. Once the facts no longer do so, continued defence becomes a further wrong. It shields error, signals to the ranks that accountability can be avoided, and erodes the single asset […]
Political favoritism has eroded the police force, and confidence in their actions will not rebound until accountability is enforced impartially. The Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of three senior police officers whose promotions were found to be unlawful due to political connections. These officers, who held high-ranking positions for over a decade, must relinquish their ranks and begin anew.
This decision highlights that political advantage has overridden the police's established rules, undermining public trust. The consequences of this demotion are far-reaching, as these officers lose their salary, allowances, seniority, and authority. More importantly, it sends a message that the hierarchy has been distorted by political considerations.
The police force, which must deal with security risks, organized crime, and public order demands, has lost a crucial asset: the confidence of the public. Without this confidence, cooperation declines, and new incidents are viewed through the lens of past failures. The incident also reflects a pattern of impunity that has persisted since the end of the civil war.
Throughout the decades, cases of torture and deaths in custody have been met with compensation but rarely with criminal conviction. Oversight bodies, while existing on paper, have lacked the authority or political backing needed to effect change. Recent incidents, such as the death of Ishara Harsha Kumara during arrest, follow this established course of events, where procedural failures are acknowledged but rarely result in prosecution.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
