Four years ago in 2020 history was created in the Sri Lanka Police ,when, for the first time, a woman Police officer assumed the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG). The appointment received the full approval of the National Police Commission (NPC). This was when SSP Bimshani Jayasingheaarachchi was promoted to the next highest rank in the Service.
The appointment, though, was not well-received in the male dominated Service. Her appointment was challenged in Courts by a group of senior male police officers but the Court threw out the case and made the promotion stick. Now in another first, four women SSPs have been elevated to high ranking posts in the Service namely Director of Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Commanding Officer of the Police Field Force Headquarters and as Director of Police Special Investigations Unit (SIU) which conducts investigations into the conduct of Police officers, akin to Internal Affairs in the US Police/FBI. It looks as if the female police personnel who hitherto went largely ignored, even by the public, are presently going places within the country’s premier law enforcement agency.
This is a groundbreaking development in the country’s Police force, which, hitherto, was an exclusively male dominated preserve, jealously guarded. Any intrusion in whatever form was not welcomed. No wonder some male Police officers went to Court seeking to dislodge the woman DIG. How things are going to pan out in the future will be interesting. Will the male officers be willing to take orders from these high ranking female officers? Police have taken pride in the macho image the Service has created in the public minds. Any perceived diminution of this dominance, naturally, is not going to be tolerated by certain male Police officers. The Court case filed against the female DIG is evidence of this.
The appointment of female Police officers to man top posts in the Police service, as already mentioned, is a groundbreaking move and could well alter the image of the Police, which in recent times had taken a heavy beating most notably for instances of police brutality, including custodial deaths. The inclusion of female officers in top slots in the Police is bound to see a decline in such incidents, with junior officers, male or female, now compelled to be on their guard. Besides, the appointment of female officers to high ranking posts would also restore confidence among the public to present their complaints to the Police. As it is, most people who have been victims of theft ,robbery and other crimes prefer not to go to the Police stations with their complaints due to sheer lack of confidence they have in male Police officers, most of whom are prone to acts of bribery as an ‘incentive’ for investigating the complaints. Now, the OICs and the other officers would be more cautious in this respect and pay more attention to the public complaints.
However, the most important aspect in the appointment of female officers to top slots in the Police would be its impact on corruption in the Service, which, according to a recent survey, is only second to that of the education sector. A former IGP even planned to check the bank accounts of certain police top brass after it came to light that they were moving closely with top drug dealers. Female Police officers in the top echelons of the Service are not going to condone or tolerate corrupt acts, which have taken a heavy toll vis-à-vis the image of the Police.
The public will now be in a position to make complaints to the high ranking female Police officers if their complaints are going to be investigated. There have been instances where females, who have been victims of snatch thieves, when making complaints at Police stations, are even asked to part with money if the snatched gold chains are to be recovered and restored to them. Of course, only a few men among the Khaki brigade belonged to this breed. But their acts, needless to say, go a long way in sullying the image of the Police force as a whole.
The country may even soon have a woman IGP, which, in such an eventuality, will be another historic first. Why not? The country has already produced two female Heads of State and the present Prime Minister is the third woman Premier in the country. So why not have a female to lead to the country’s top law enforcement agency? This is par for the course in many other progressive countries.
This could also bring about the much needed shake- up the Police Service is glaringly wanting, plus a whole new image and orientation. Women have shown much enterprise and resourcefulness in whatever fields of endeavour they are engaged in. Sri Lanka is no exception as we have a large number of female doctors, medical professionals, engineers and even pilots who have given their male counterparts in similar fields a run for their money. They, no doubt, are bound to come up with flying colours as top law enforcement officers as well in the years to come.
