28 February 2022 08:58 am Views - 164
The government is in a move to collect information on the community through youth volunteers to keep a tab on political, criminal, and social activities in the country, the Daily Mirror learns.
It is planned to recruit and employ two youths residing in each and every Grama Niladhari Division numbering 14,022 across the country as "Community Assistants" to assist police officers in obtaining individual and community participation in various activities in their respective GN divisions and report to the CPS unit of the respective GN division for further action if necessary.
The Ministry of Public Security in collaboration with the State Ministry of Community Police Service and the Sri Lanka Police has taken steps to deploy two full-time police officers to each GN division under the Community Police Service Programme.
Young people over 18 years of age residing permanently in the relevant GN division who have held School Prefect positions and active in youth clubs and other voluntary services could apply for Community Assistants positions, a memo to the cabinet prepared by Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (retired) Sarath Weerasekara has noted.
“They provide a reputable service and are not entitled to any benefits or other entitlements. The police will issue them a voluntary identity card. A Certificate of Service on "Community Leadership" is issued after six months of service,” he said.
It has been identified that the Community Police Service (CPS), which operates in countries such as Singapore and Japan, has the potential to reduce community-level crime. The Sri Lanka model of the CPS is to be established based on the success of such programmes, Minister Weerasekara has stressed.
However, sharing a different view on this scheme with the Daily Mirror, the General Secretary of the SJB and the former Minister of Law and Order, Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the deployment of the Community Assistants programme reminiscences the Gestapo - the secret police service of Nazi Germany – that gathered information on civilians and sent those marked as men and women who did not toe the line of the Nazis to concentration camps. “The government must keep in mind that the Police cannot be involved in politics during their duty. If they secretly gather confidential information on society and civilians, it is unconstitutional and a violation of their Fundamental Rights. Besides, if the government thinks that they can suppress the public anger mounting by the day against it in this manner, it is only wishful thinking,” Madduma Bandara stressed.