If I were Commissioner for one day
Fri, Jun 8. 2012
Editor: If I were to be Commissioner of Police for one day, these are some of the things I would do, which the current Commissioner fails to do.
The first item on my list would be to re-instate all those policemen who have been dismissed from the police force innocently.{{more}}
It is such a sad state of affairs to see young innocent policemen just sent home like that, based on mere allegation, with no thorough investigation, no discipline charges, no criminal charges. Donât these men have rights too? The law presumes a man to be innocent until proven guilty, but it seems to be the other way around under the current Commissioner. I, as Commissioner,will exhaust all investigation before making any decision.
My second item will be to rid the force of all policemen with criminal records, whether or not any of them is a son or daughter of any friend of mine. There must be a standard set, and if I say that the police force has no place for criminals, then I should ensure that any policeman who is convicted in a court of law for a criminal offence, will have to be dismissed from the police force. It looks as though the good ones are the ones who are sent home and the criminals are kept.
The third change I would set about to make will be to find out all those men and women who are acting in the ranks of Corporals and Sergeants for approximately six years and promote them, once that vacancy is available. It is an injustice to a young man or woman working so hard in the police force to be acting in a rank for so much years and not be considered for confirmation in that rank. I think that one should be rewarded for work done. A man acting as a corporal or a sergeant is doing so without any incentive, and in my view that cannot be fair. All he or she has is the responsibility, but still gets paid for the rank below the one in which he is acting. So, as Commissioner of Police I would only promote one to act in any of those ranks, once the vacancy is there to be filled soon.
Next on my list of changes, if I were to be Commissioner of Police for one day, would be the process by which I train new entrants into the police force. When a new batch of police enter the police force, my first step would be to have then do their basic training before putting them out there on the streets. To allow a young man to go on the streets to do regular police work for four plus years, then send him to do his initial training is a backward move. One with four years service should not be considered a recruit. That is degrading to such a person. Does a woman give birth to her baby, let it grow for four years plus then put it back into her womb to develop as a fetus? This is impossible. There is a procedure which has to go in sequence, and we all know the procedure. So, we can liken a young man coming from civilian life to police life in the same way a woman goes through her pregnancy.
First, he goes into the womb of the Training School where he will be fed through the umbilical cord of the instructors for the five or so months. After that duration he will be delivered at the passing out parade into the world of police life. From there he will continue to be nurtured by the senior policemen at the various stations and other departments until he develops into a well rounded police man.
I am reminded that I am only Commissioner of Police for one day and my day only has twenty-four hours. But before my day is done there is just one more thing I would do and that will be to ensure that I impress upon the government to have installed a small gym at all the police stations so that the men can be able to go there to keep fit. I would not have gone to the public and embarrassed my hard working policemen and women like a certain commissioner embarrassed them. And by the way, being fat does not mean that one is not fit. There are slim people who are unfit.
And before my day is ended, I would make it my business to encourage all my men and women to give of their very best and to always strive for excellence.
SKIM
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