DSI Results Hit By Leadership Changes, Interference

[webfact]

ANALYSIS

DSI results hit by leadership changes, interference

By Avudh Panananda

The Nation

The Department of Special Investiga-tion (DSI) has been billed as a beacon for law enforcement since 2002 - but its job performance is much overrated.

The DSI came into existence as a product of bureaucratic reform spearheaded by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration. The revamping of the civil service saw the judiciary cut loose from supervision by the Justice Ministry, which lost control over the courts of justice. This triggered a turf war as justice officials scrambled to shore up their mandate.

The Royal Thai Police and the Office of the Attorney General put up a fierce fight to stay independent and not fall under the ministry's jurisdiction.

Backed by the then prime minister Thaksin, bureaucratic reformers came up with the idea of a new law enforcement agency emulating the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The idea for introducing a Thai-style FBI dated back to the Cold War era, as security authorities conceded that police abuse had spawned the growth of communist sympathisers.

In the 1970s, a new class of police officers trained by the FBI, including General Vasit Dejkhunchorn, tried to push for police reforms based on the FBI model. It had two distinct features - a broad mandate to solve crimes nationwide and a reliance on forensic science instead of coercing confessions.

Policeman-turned-academic Purachai Piumsombun played a leading role in introducing a number of changes to police work from the 1980s to 1990s. The gist of police reform was the introduction of FBI features into the police service, rather than setting up another law enforcement agency to counterbalance police power.

But in 2002, the general police view was that, a DSI, if formed, would be redundant. Police already had a sweeping mandate to solve any crimes. The Crime Suppression Division was like the FBI, with jurisdiction to investigate and override local police nationwide.

The police development of forensic work also saw significant progress.

But the Thaksin government and bureaucratic reformers ploughed ahead and the DSI was formed, despite this opposition.

The newly-formed DSI was staffed mainly by ex-policemen and former public prosecutors.

Of the 21-member Special Case Board, which oversees DSI work, 12 include the prime minister, or his designated representative, and ministers and senior officials.

The board's composition should be a clear indication of the political overtones in categorising special investigation cases.

From 2002 to 2006, police grabbed at opportunities to dominate the DSI by awarding "consolation prizes" to senior officers - who'd failed to win police promotion - by giving them charge of special investigations.

In the early days of the DSI, many saw special investigation cases as a pretext for the government to gag and suppress the opposition. A number of top DSI officials were ex-policemen, seen as Thaksin's henchmen.

After the 2006 coup, the interim government appointed a top judge, Sunai Manomai-udom, to head the DSI. The tables were then turned on Thaksin, as the DSI focused on his alleged offences.

Following the 2007 general election, the pro-Thaksin camp grabbed power and the political wind shifted. DSI work on Thaksin waned and his "henchmen", including Thawee Sodsong, returned to take control.

After the Democrats came to power in 2008, the DSI saw another purge of top officials. Tharit Phengdit rose from an obscure position to become the director-general.

As a former public prosecutor, Tharit tried to groom ex-prosecutors and a young generation of special investigators to fill key positions. But he still had to rely on ex-policemen who were the backbone of investigative work.

Since its inception, the DSI has handled a total of 914 special cases from 2004 to this year. Not a single case has become a benchmark for law enforcement and police work.

The special investigation into the murder of a Saudi businessman, involving a senior police officer, relied on the confession of an accomplice rather than forensic work.

The tentative report on the death of a Japanese cameraman during last year's riots showed a discrepancy between a written conclusion and the autopsy report.

No one is questioning the integrity and professional dedication of DSI officials. Doubts remain, however, on whether the DSI can raise standards for crime-solving to new heights.

-- The Nation 2011-03-14

[londonthai]

"report on the death of a Japanese cameraman during last year's riots showed a discrepancy between a written conclusion and the autopsy report. No one is questioning the integrity and professional dedication of DSI officials"

I do question their integrity, the whole article is about how they are politically manipulated, from the first day till today.

For me it looks like they are a "political police", to deal with the opposition and with the discontent brewing in the masses of society

[Bakseedaa]

"report on the death of a Japanese cameraman during last year's riots showed a discrepancy between a written conclusion and the autopsy report. No one is questioning the integrity and professional dedication of DSI officials"

I do question their integrity, the whole article is about how they are politically manipulated, from the first day till today.

For me it looks like they are a "political police", to deal with the opposition and with the discontent brewing in the masses of society

Its obvious that you do not know any DSI officers, from my own experience they are hard working, non corruptible agents , doing a very hard job. If only all Thai policeman had their morals, society would be much richer...

[londonthai]

Its obvious that you do not know any DSI officers, from my own experience they are hard working, non corruptible agents , doing a very hard job. If only all Thai policeman had their morals, society would be much richer...

certainly I don't know any of them, but I do read about their work. I did as well read the article above.

members of my thai family, who happen to be low rank police officers, are hard working and not corrupt, and they do believe, that dsi is a political police, set up to be more efficient than police to deal with the social discontent

Edited March 14, 2011 by londonthai

[hammered]

Its obvious that you do not know any DSI officers, from my own experience they are hard working, non corruptible agents , doing a very hard job. If only all Thai policeman had their morals, society would be much richer...

certainly I don't know any of them, but I do read about their work. I did as well read the article above.

members of my thai family, who happen to be low rank police officers, are hard working and not corrupt, and they do believe, that dsi is a political police, set up to be more efficient than police to deal with the social discontent

If the DSI are a political police then what are the real police? Take a look at Thai history over the decades and not just recently but the ordinary police out political virtually any organization except possibly the army. The DSI doesnt even come into the equation as they have no political result worth talking about to date.

The DSI arent set up to deal with social discontent as they dont have the manpower or units to do such stuff. They are as the article sets out used by whoever is in power at the time. That is not disimilar to every other bureacratic unti excepting the police and army which are powerful enough to be somewhat autonomous as we have seen in recent years when both have been accused of being negligent in serving the public to further their own ends.

[jayboy]

"report on the death of a Japanese cameraman during last year's riots showed a discrepancy between a written conclusion and the autopsy report. No one is questioning the integrity and professional dedication of DSI officials"

I do question their integrity, the whole article is about how they are politically manipulated, from the first day till today.

For me it looks like they are a "political police", to deal with the opposition and with the discontent brewing in the masses of society

Its obvious that you do not know any DSI officers, from my own experience they are hard working, non corruptible agents , doing a very hard job. If only all Thai policeman had their morals, society would be much richer...

No doubt there were East Germans who praised the Stasi as hard working non corruptible agents doing a hard job.

History swept them away.