One of the aspects that are critical in winning any war is the control of information. This is the reason why casualty figures will never tally when being reported by two warring sides. In fact the deliberate spread of propaganda is part and parcel of modern warfare. For instance, military genius Adolf Hitler was a guru when it came to the spread of propaganda.
Well-trained soldiers are keenly aware of these facts and it is therefore not surprising that police commissioner Maj General Ali, who is a military man, seeks to carefully control what the public reads about crime and security in the country. To him the control of information is part and parcel of the war on crime. But is it?
Is it really a good idea for the public not to know the real crime and security situation in the country? Is the public safer with ignorance? Or is it a better idea for you and me to know exactly what we are up against when we step out of our front doors every morning?
The war on crime is not a military operation and it is wishful thinking to urge the public to share information with a police force that is itself suppressing information. In fact it is highly unlikely that Police commissioner Ali will win the current war on crime with this kind of attitude. Little wonder that even during interviews on national TV, the police commissioner has continuously sidestepped very basic questions and failed to answer simple questions that the public deserves answers to.
This latest development is the strongest argument yet against having a military person running a police force as police commissioner. With the benefit of hindsight, it may have been a better idea to create a special unit manned by military types to confront hard core criminals in gun battles and retain the police commissioner's post amongst police officers who have had many year's training and experience in decision making when it comes to handling crime. As it is, military people hardly receive any training in the law, let alone law enforcement. Admittedly Maj General Ali has learnt fast but it seems other military habits that hinder his ability to function as a police commissioner are a little more tricky to handle.
Nation media group on fire.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Any posts breaking the house rules of COMMON DECENCY will be promptly deleted, i.e. NO TRIBALISTIC, racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive, swearing, DIVERSIONS, impersonation and spam AMONG OTHERS. No exceptions WHATSOEVER.