In a statement of September 6, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has asked, “What can be done when there are not enough criminal investigators in Sri Lanka?” A concomitant question is, what is the cost of crime control and torture prevention? What crime control and torture prevention require is not rhetoric but investment. The political leadership should not be raising hysteria about the increase of crime and lack of discipline among law enforcement officers, but should provide the necessary funds to correct the situation.
To do this, politicians must be able to calculate the actual costs of preventive strategies and approve the necessary expenditures. The money should already be available in the national treasury. However, if it is not available, the politicians themselves must take responsibility for finding it and not use the excuse of insufficient resources to justify inaction.
The first item for which costs need to be calculated is the recruitment of qualified criminal investigators. The lack of sufficient qualified investigators has been commonly identified as the reason for the failure to detect crimes and arrest perpetrators. It has also been identified as the reason why unqualified officers engage in torture, mostly of innocent citizens. Such torture serves no useful purpose but these officers do not know any other way to investigate crimes. Qualified officers require quality education and reasonable salaries. In a small country like Sri Lanka this is an affordable goal, which may be readily calculated by the responsible persons in the relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice, if instructed to do so.
The second item for which costs need to be calculated is the improvement of forensic services. The facilities required can be readily identified by any concerned professional and even most laypersons, and again are affordable. However, to make such services available requires effective costing. This involves identifying the materials and training needed for quality forensic investigations and assessment of existing inefficiencies, which may include a lack of qualified personnel and disciplined management. Until calculations are made on the money needed, there can be no discussion on how to raise it. It is necessary to make a decisive beginning. This again is a job for advisors to the government particularly in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice.
The third item for which costs need to be calculated is the improvement of police disciplinary procedures. Under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, the National Police Commission (NPC) has primary responsibility for police discipline, while some departmental matters lie with the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Forty percent of public complaints about police received by the NPC so far have related to inaction regarding complaints already made. About fifteen percent have related to torture, while other complaints are about corruption. To address police discipline the NPC must identify problems, adopt rules and procedures, and establish the necessary inquiring bodies. Although the NPC claims to have begun this work, a proper plan with detailed costing is needed in order to approach the government for the necessary funding and obtain public support towards that end.
These are but a few answers to the question of what crime control and torture prevention requires. In each case clear budgetary allocations are needed. It is the governments duty to allocate funds and the opposition’s duty to see that the government carries through on its commitments. Until this is done, the discussions by politicians on the increase of crime and widespread use of torture amount to mere politicking, doing nothing to alleviate the acute problems faced by the ordinary folk throughout the country.
