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Smart performance by police

The quick capture of the suspected mastermind and his accomplices in the killing of Justice Sarath Ambepitiya and his bodyguard, following intensive investigations under the direction of IGP Chandra Fernando, proves beyond doubt the professional skills and capabilities of Lanka's police force.

We congratulate the police on this highly efficient operation and call on them to keep up the good work.

The perception among some that the law and order machinery is slow and tardy in getting its act together in the face of crime, has proved a vital factor in the crumbling of law and order in this country.

Most dangerous is the notion in some circles that it is futile to depend on the police to bring criminals to book speedily and to crackdown on crime in a fair and impartial manner.

Every now and then these opinions have led to restless sections of the public taking the law into their own hands, thereby further compounding our enormous law and order crisis.

If the police proves to be always quick on the job there is no doubt that the crime rate could be curbed. For, the public would have demonstrable proof that crime is being tackled efficiently and impartially.

Needless to say, however, in quite a few cases the law enforcement machinery has proved ineffective, leading to lengthy delays in the activation of the due process of law.

We need to make use of the present crisis to investigate thoroughly what is getting in the way of a quick and efficient dispensation of justice.

The quick netting of the suspects in the Ambepitiya killing is proof that given the opportunity our police could measure up to the highest standards of efficiency. What are the important factors in this remarkable performance? This question needs to be answered.

Apparently, the fact that IGP Fernando was directing the investigation lent to it an exceptional sense of urgency. If this is so, the police need to act with a sense of urgency always to ensure result-oriented investigations.

The conclusion is unavoidable that the police need to be highly motivated consistently, with every officer dutifully pulling his weight and not allowing things to drift dangerously.

If motivation is a prime factor in crime curbing by the police, then, it needs to be ascertained what is preventing some sections of these law enforcers from putting their hearts and souls into their jobs. This is principally a task for the National Police Commission which should eliminate the demotivating factors from the Police Department.

Politicians who are fond of misusing the police, for their part, should see the importance, at even this juncture, of leaving the police alone. If the police are not tampered with, they are likely to give a better account of themselves. In other words, the police should be a totally independent entity.

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In the line of fire

It may sound like gallows humour but the news reports that the local hangman has received death threats are not amusing.

It appears that with the revival of Capital Punishment, the hangman is placed in the firing line. Who would have imagined this three decades ago when the death penalty was enforced ?

The word Alugosuwa drove terror into the blackest of hearts. There was a mystique that surrounded the ghostlike figure who signified the whisper of death. The Alugosuwa conjured visions of a brute of a man with curled up moustache and bloodshot eyes, who carried the fate of the condemned in his hands.

To think that such an individual has himself been placed on 'death row' is a reflection of our times. If the reports are correct, we have an executioner of the executioner - not healthy if the death sentence is to act as a deterrent against serious crime, the very intention behind its reintroduction.

There are reports that the authorities are importing new ropes for the gallows from Malaysia. What good will this do, one may ask, if the noose is going to fall on the hangman himself.

Since judges have already been provided with armed security, will this mean that the hangman will also be given bodyguards? Isn't the hangman also not part of the judicial system, one may ask?

Are we to witness the hangman being escorted to Welikada or Bogambara under armed escort for executions? We do not know if the hangman is provided with official quarters.

If so, he will need guards posted outside. A strange experience for the hangman who would no doubt see the irony of it all - the executioner protected from potential killers.

The hangman's job here is usually a "family business" - passing down to the next of kin with papa literally showing the ropes to the son. This could lead to a double threat.

The son could be kidnapped to force papa to call off an execution. With the prevailing culture of crime there is nothing to prevent the hangman himself being held to ransom in order to spare the life of a drug baron.

That said, the authorities should reconsider the choice of the noose.

The gallows is a residue of colonial administration. In this enlightened age a more humane way of implementing the death sentence should be explored - electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad. Nobody could say which of these are more humane.

For now we are stuck with the hangman and every step should be taken to ensure he does not meet his maker while 'executing' his duties.

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