Police excesses
Cops who attack
innocent members of
the public � of whatever background � cannot be allowed to get away with
a just a slap on the wrist
In the last week or so the police have mostly been in the news for wrong reasons. The already tarnished image of the police was dealt another blow as reports came in about some police personnel indulging in yet another of what can be only termed as brutality. This time around a Dhaka City Corporation official was beaten up by members of the force as he was going to perform his official duties at four in the morning. The police suggested that it was simply a case of misunderstanding. But these misunderstandings are happening with a frequency that questions the credibility of statements like this.
And in any case nothing except self defense or a threat to pubic life and propertyand even in these cases the police are required by law to exercise maximum restraintcan allow the police to manhandle anyone. Just a few days ago a Bangladesh Bank official was allegedly severely assaulted by a cop. Yet all the higher ups in the police could do was to close the said official. If stern and prompt action against that errant cop was taken, the heavy-handedness of sections of police personnel would have been curbed to a degree.
The general perception of the police is that it is a blunt-edged instrument to perpetuate and perform the will and whims of the powers-that-be. Complaints of police torture and custodial violence have further accentuated this negative image. A general atmosphere of lack of mutual trust, respect and confidence between the law using public and law enforcing police prevails here. All the while, serving and protecting the public appears to drop ever-lower on our law-enforcers scale of priorities. Of course, we are not condemning the whole force. We do believe that most of the members of this force are trying their best to do a good job. Yet the bad news is that individual thugs in police uniform can result in a distrust of the police among the people that thousands of good cops cannot restore. Often intoxicated with power, these rogue cops are prone to lord it over anyone they want. A pattern of behaviour, actually a subculture of misbehaviour, has entrenched itself in many in the ranks and it obviously tarnishes the polices reputation.
The first step in changing police attitudes must be to make individual officers criminally liable for their misdeeds. Cops that attack innocent members of the public, of whatever background, cannot be allowed to get away with a just a slap on the wrist.
