Police reform panel’s first duties clear enough

[webfact]

OPINION

Police reform panel’s first duties clear enough
By The Nation

 

Citing a need for better wages, the Constitution lays the foundation for an assault on corruption

 

The Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed plans to establish a 36-member committee to recommend reforms in the police force, as required by the Constitution that came into effect on April 6. Headed by retired General Boonsang Niampradit, a former supreme commander of the armed forces, the panel will consist of five senior state officials – the permanent secretaries of Finance, Interior and Justice, the attorney general and the secretary general of the Courts of Justice. It also has 15 current and former police officers and 15 academics and other specialists in pertinent fields.

 

Seeking to improve efficiency in the police force, the Constitution directs the panel to amend and revise laws related to its duties, powers and objectives and the management of personnel. It is to “guarantee that police officers receive appropriate remuneration, that appointments and transfers are handled with fairness, and that consideration of allowances and merits is done clearly in accordance with a merit system. 

 

“In considering appointments and transfers,” the charter states, “regard must be given to seniority in combination with knowledge and competence, so that police officers can perform the duties independently without being under the mandate of any person, efficiently, and with pride in the performance of their duties.”

 

The 200,000-strong police force has been tainted with frequent accusations and occasional proof of corruption, along with internal complaints of unfair appointments and transfers. There have been charges of prime police positions being offered to the highest-bidding candidate. The winner gets to share in the massive windfall from underground and illegal businesses operating with tacit police approval. Such lofty posts are said to command millions of baht each, varying with the jurisdiction and scope of power.

 

The Constitution does not directly mention corruption, but it does cite common issues that prompt police officers to seek and accept bribes, such as inadequate salaries.

 

The reform panel doesn’t have a lot of time to get the job done. It is constitutionally bound to complete its mission within a year of the charter’s promulgation, which means its mandate expires in nine months. To save time, the committee should start by boning up on police-reform studies and recommendations that have been around for years. There are already plenty of experts who could offer advice and expedite the process further.

 

There is no “penalty” in the Constitution should the panel fail to complete its work on time, nor any requirement for follow-up efforts. If the work is incomplete when the deadline arrives, it says, “the appointment and transfer of police personnel shall be carried out on the basis of seniority in accordance with rules prescribed by the Cabinet”.

 

Committee members will have to quickly establish that they deserve their positions. Everyone is counting on seeing effective reforms at long last. At the very least, we expect to see measures proposed to enhance efficiency and, since the wholesale elimination of corruption seems too much to wish for, its curtailment. 

 

Reforming the police force should not stop at revising existing laws. Efforts should also be 

undertaken to make honest police officers proud about what they do, while at the same time assuring their corrupt colleagues of severe punishment or sacking. Increasing salaries for junior ranks is an obvious first step, enabling the honest ones to live decently.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/opinion/today_editorial/30320011

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-06

[tracker1]

All this in 9 months ? Nothing is going to change ! The 200,000-strong police force has been tainted with frequent accusations and occasional proof of corruption, along with internal complaints of unfair appointments and transfers. There have been charges of prime police positions being offered to the highest-bidding candidate. The winner gets to share in the massive windfall from underground and illegal businesses operating with tacit police approval. Such lofty posts are said to command millions of baht each, varying with the jurisdiction and scope of power. They know this has been going on for decades even in the Military  and do nothing about it you only have to see the assets some of these active and retired personel that have worked so hard for have !

[Smiley Face]

Quote

Efforts should also be 

undertaken to make honest police officers proud about what they do . . .

That's easy just give the two or three of them an award and promote them to be in charge of all the other clowns.

[NCFC]

The junta should have made this top priority when they seized power

[Chang_paarp]

They should also look at the training given to police at all levels. 

 

Another thing they missed is to ensure that the cops are supplied with the correct and needed equipment. Having to buy their own gun, ammunition and motorcycle is a huge wedge for allowing corruption. 

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Increasing salaries for junior ranks is an obvious first step, enabling the honest ones to live decently.

They will have to wait until the subs, Black Hawks and the armored cars are paid for of course.

[bizboi]

4 hours ago, NCFC said:

The junta should have made this top priority when they seized power

At least they’re TALKING about it - NO previous Government ever has and to get the Police to accept this is a huge step and credit where its due to junta!!

[Dogmatix]

The panel's duties are certainly abundantly clear.  The panel's duties are to improve benefits to police while cementing the centralised command structure that gives immense power and impunity to however is in power.  There should categorically be no attempt to curb the police's revenue generating abilities or the flow of gravy uphill to those in charge.   Police privileges to indulge in organised crime, drug dealing, racketeering, extortion, assassinations and money laundering should not be impinged in any way.  Use of 'safe' houses, torture and murder are necessary tools of the police in conducting their duties and business activities and must remain sacrosant.  

 

It is vital that re-enactments should continue to be re-enacted in view of the TV cameras and relatives of victims.  This is an very important cleansing ritual in Thai culture.  It is OK to continually promise to stop re-enactments as long as they continue as usual.   Finally, special rules must be enacted governing the arrests of good looking, young female murder suspects.  It is important that they should be treated with respect befitting their high status offences.  They should be given nice clothes to wear and allowed to use make-up to make sure they look nice at press conferences with senior officers and in selfies, as well, of course, at re-enactments where they must be given the opportunity to apologise to victims' families.      

[JAG]

At least they’re TALKING about it - NO previous Government ever has and to get the Police to accept this is a huge step and credit where its due to junta!!

They're talking about it because mutterings amongst Thais about the police are becoming more audible.

 

The mutterings are largely to be heard on social media too.

 

Coincidentally the Junta are also talking a lot about the need to control social media too.

 

Now I wonder which problem they will tackle first - credit where it's due of course!

 

[natway09]

Their job as police is to protect life, limb & property REGARDLESS of whether they receive a little brown envelope.

10 committees will never change that now. It is endemic 

[Dogmatix]

5 hours ago, bizboi said:

At least they’re TALKING about it - NO previous Government ever has and to get the Police to accept this is a huge step and credit where its due to junta!!

 

They are only talking about it because police reform was one of the demands of Suthep's street mob in 2010 which was angry that the police were allowing red shirt mercenaries to shoot grenades at them.  Prayut promised police reform soon after the coup in deference to the people who created the situation that allowed him to take power and the general unhappiness of the population with their corrupt and inefficient police force.   However, nothing has been done in 3 years since he seized power.   Now that time is running out and he still has political ambitions, he has to go through the motion of police reform which will mostly focus on police benefits.  No one on the panel will admit there is anything wrong with the police, so there is no impetus for reform there.  The chairman is a old buddy of Prawit who has the police under his thumb and likes it just the way it is. 

 

There have actually been some attempts at police reform by civilian governments.  The Abhisit government had some sensible proposals for reform that focused on decentralisation and accountability but the police did their best to stonewall and the government ran out of time to get anything done.  Something similar happened under the second Chuan government too.  Those governments lacked the power and time to get anything done.  This government has had all the time and power but has no real interest in police reform.  

[bizboi]

6 hours ago, JAG said:

They're talking about it because mutterings amongst Thais about the police are becoming more audible.

 

The mutterings are largely to be heard on social media too.

 

Coincidentally the Junta are also talking a lot about the need to control social media too.

 

Now I wonder which problem they will tackle first - credit where it's due of course!

 

Thais have talked about police corruption incessantly for the 9 yrs Ive been in Thailand - no ones mentioned doing anything about it till now

[bizboi]

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

 

They are only talking about it because police reform was one of the demands of Suthep's street mob in 2010 which was angry that the police were allowing red shirt mercenaries to shoot grenades at them.  

Thats certainly one example - though one mans “street mob” is another mans "Thai people demonstrating about Pheu Thai corruption”.

[bizboi]

7 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

The panel's duties are certainly abundantly clear.  The panel's duties are to improve benefits to police while cementing the centralised command structure that gives immense power and impunity to however is in power.  There should categorically be no attempt to curb the police's revenue generating abilities or the flow of gravy uphill to those in charge.   Police privileges to indulge in organised crime, drug dealing, racketeering, extortion, assassinations and money laundering should not be impinged in any way.  Use of 'safe' houses, torture and murder are necessary tools of the police in conducting their duties and business activities and must remain sacrosant.  

 

It is vital that re-enactments should continue to be re-enacted in view of the TV cameras and relatives of victims.  This is an very important cleansing ritual in Thai culture.  It is OK to continually promise to stop re-enactments as long as they continue as usual.   Finally, special rules must be enacted governing the arrests of good looking, young female murder suspects.  It is important that they should be treated with respect befitting their high status offences.  They should be given nice clothes to wear and allowed to use make-up to make sure they look nice at press conferences with senior officers and in selfies, as well, of course, at re-enactments where they must be given the opportunity to apologise to victims' families.      

An interesting take on the duties of the review body…mainly because thats not what the article source says their duties are…can you state your source for saying that this is to improve police benefits and not tackle Police corruption….You may be right Im just trying to form an opinion on what may or may not be a good step forward.

[Nowisee]

On 7/6/2017 at 6:18 AM, NCFC said:

The junta should have made this top priority when they seized power

I agree.

 

Assemble a secret (is that even possible here?) squad of IRS ruthless forensic accountants to exam all the top cops.  Seize accounts and confiscate property that lacks even questionable financial evidence of its legal acquisition.
That will send the first signal.

And for fks sake DO NOT announce that its going to happen 3 months before it happens...555

Then start prosecutions.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Nowisee

[Eric Loh]

On 7/6/2017 at 10:51 AM, bizboi said:

At least they’re TALKING about it - NO previous Government ever has and to get the Police to accept this is a huge step and credit where its due to junta!!

http://www.lifescienceglobal.com/pms/index.php/ijcs/article/view/1261

 

There were attempts to reform the police but have never got traction due to various reasons. I will reserve the credit when they succeed. It is a herculean task and deeply rooted in politics and corruption which those in power leverage for their own benefits. 

[Dogmatix]

17 hours ago, bizboi said:

Thais have talked about police corruption incessantly for the 9 yrs Ive been in Thailand - no ones mentioned doing anything about it till now

A lot more than 9 years.  If you read accounts by British advisors to KRV at the turn of the last century they bitch and moan about government corruption and gross inefficiency in the ministries and departments they are assigned to, making it difficult for them to get anything done.  The 1932 revolution may have had some lofty ideals but the effect of it was just to take over power for the benefit of the military and other bureaucratic elites. Later on politicians muscled in too and the current phase is a life and death power struggle between the military/ bureaucracy and the politicians, with the latter currently on a big losing streak. Neither of these groups has ever wanted to do anything about corruption because that is the main prize that they strive for.  If you believe anyone is mentioning it now with a view to doing something about it, you had better take off your rose tinted spectacles. Maintaining a corrupt police force that is compliant to those in power is the mainstay of the system and that is not about to change.        

[Cadbury]

50 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

http://www.lifescienceglobal.com/pms/index.php/ijcs/article/view/1261

 

There were attempts to reform the police but have never got traction due to various reasons. I will reserve the credit when they succeed. It is a herculean task and deeply rooted in politics and corruption which those in power leverage for their own benefits. 

Sadly I doubt there is any real intention to do anything; too many careers and loss of income at stake. This Reform Panel is simply for appearances and to protect what they already have; plus a free ride on a gravy train.