Tackle police corruption with reward and penalty

On the reward side, I would propose a not-so-original idea: raise the starting salary to a level high enough to attract college graduates (say, Bt40,000 per month). That way, even the brightest college grads would compete for an entry-level police position. No longer would those who might never have studied law in their lives be enforcing the law. Neither would guns be carried by those supposed to have poorer critical thinking due to lower education.

Of course, being educated in college is not the equivalent of being righteous, and there is no guarantee that Bt40,000 per month would prevent a police officer from becoming corrupt. So this is where the penalty part steps in.  

If any police officer is involved in corruption, he or she will be prosecuted by a criminal court – as opposed to being subjected to internal police disciplinary action. If found guilty, the only verdict will be the death penalty, regardless of whether the offence involved Bt100 or Bt1 million in tea money. Should anyone criticise this punishment as too harsh, especially when the amount of corruption is small, I would argue, “Shouldn’t corruption among law enforcers be absolutely intolerable in the first place?”

While I am realistic enough to realise that the above proposal will never be accepted, my point is that several alternative (and perhaps effective) solutions do exist. Whether or not they are implemented is up to the powers-that-be.

Andy Colmes

Bangkok