21 cops on the move 'to boost efficiency'
TWENTY-ONE police officers, most of whom were stationed in Nakhon Pathom and Provincial Police Region 7, were transferred to the police operations centre to boost efficiency, the national police chief explained yesterday.
Pol General Somyot Poompanmuang said each jurisdiction had various police agencies as well as police stations, such as the Central Investigation Bureau, Immigration Police Bureau and
Special Branch Division.
“From now on, if any jurisdiction neglects its duties and lets crime rise, I will not just transfer the top five officers at the respective police station – but those from back-up agencies would be held accountable too,” Somyot said.
The recent transfers will be a new standard of practice to boost co-operation within jurisdictions, said the senior officer. He retires in four months but he hopes his successor applies the rule as a guideline.
Somyot said he expects some of the transferred police officers to protest and they were within their rights to do so. But he called all the transferred officers to attend a meeting today to discuss their performance and they would be allowed to submit explanation letters.
The first transfer order of 11 police officers included Somyot’s own brother, Crime Suppression Subdivision 5 commander Pol Colonel Pumin Poompanmuang. It was issued on Sunday night and Somyot on Monday had said it was because crimes in the province had increased.
The second transfer order, announced on Monday night, required 10 police officers to report to the centre yesterday at noon.
Four of the officers were from the Provincial Police Region 7: deputy commander Pol Colonel Triwit Namthongthai; investigation 1 division commander Pol Colonel Preeda Imcharoen; investigation 1 division deputy commander Pol Lt-Colonel Samran Klanma; and inspector Pol Major Narong Khumprai.
Another four officers were from the Nakhon Pathom Police: deputy commander for investigation Pol Lt-Colonel Preecha Timhom; inspector Pol Lt-Colonel Yonglit Supapol; inspector Pol Colonel Amporn Limprasart; and inspector Pol Captain Sakka Srifa. Another two were from the Crime Suppression Subdivision 5: deputy commander Pol Lt-Colonel Wiratchan Khunchaikaew and inspector Pol Lt-Colonel Torwong Pitakkosol.
Meanwhile, the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD) has joined with the Office of the Inspector-General to find solutions for communities with criminal code procedures. It found that 122 complaints made in the first four months of this year involved police actions.
Following yesterday’s meeting with senior officers from the office’s 10 regions, RLPD chief Pol Colonel Narat Sawettanant said 122 of 500 complaints about government services filed from January to April were against police officers.
They included charges of police malfeasance or poor job performance (such as hasty investigations and false arrest) or criminal activity. Other topics for complaint had to do with civil cases, administration and land dispute cases.
Narat said the proposed one-stop service centres at police stations for victims in criminal cases to file compensation claims could help speed up compensation procedures. They would also enable more victims in criminal cases to get their entitled aid, in line with the Compensation and Expense for the Accused in Criminal Case Act.
