Police reform cannot be put off any longer
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THE REFORM COUNCIL MUST DEAL WITH THE ISSUES OF TRANSPARENCY AND POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
Unable to decide whether to separate police investigative work from the Royal Thai Police Office (RTPO), the National Reform Council (NRC) has decided to put off voting on this key issue.
NRC members felt that more debate is needed to go deeper into recently released report by the NRC’s law and justice process reform committee.
A panel is expected to be set up next week in line with an instruction from NRC chairman Thienchay Kiranandana.
Pol Colonel Wirut Sirisawat, an adviser to the subcommittee in the NRC, argued that separating investigative work from the RTPO is important because, in the past, some police work has been known to serve political powers.
Moreover, there were even times, he said, when police were told to suspend their investigations.
Others on the panel questioned the practicality of this idea and suggested that investigative work should remain with the police but be supervised by prosecutors to ensure transparency and better accountability.
Regardless of where one stands on this issue, one thing is clear is that the NRC members are acknowledging that the country’s police force has a major problem with transparency and political interference. They may differ in terms of how to go about resolving it, but their acknowledgement of this long-standing problem should be praised.
Separating the investigator from the RTPO may not guarantee an end to political interference. Because, if politicians can meddle under the current structure, what can guarantee that they will not under a new structure? Moreover, corrupt police officers will remain corrupt.
These are tough issues for Thailand to look into. But for any
reform to be effective, we need to look at it comprehensively – the principles, the philosophy underpinning the force, and the mission of the Thai police.
Let’s face it, not many of us feel comfortable when we are in the presence of our local police. And there is a reason for this.
Beside this sticky issue of political interference, the NRC should go further and examine the recruiting process and the credentials of new recruits. Thailand’s bureaucracy and police force are staffed with people with “know-who” – instead of people with real “know-how”. Doing away with the patronage system should be another priority.
Moreover, Thai people still have difficulties explaining the police’s organisational work. Is it purely a law enforcement agency? If so, why do they sometimes behave like one of the Armed Forces? Is the police’s Armed Personnel Carrier necessary?
Also, why do we have Train Police, Tourist Police, and Border Patrol Police (BPP)? Shouldn’t some of their work be passed on to civilians, and the role of the BPP be transferred to the regular Army?
Letting go of that bureaucratic mentality – the bigger the better – has not been easy for the Thai police, obviously.
Nevertheless, changes have to be made – not only to improve public-police relations and enhance trust and credibility between citizens and Thailand’s finest. Reform is needed so that the police are better equipped and structured to meet the challenges of the modern era.
Political interference is not the only problem for the Thai police. Incompetence, insurgency, transnational crime, terrorism, accountability, corruption are some of the problems that have to be urgently addressed.
Unless these issues are tackled, the police can stop pretending that they have the moral authority to make our streets and nation safe and secure.
