Felons and rogues

Ike Señeres .

THERE is definitely a major difference between sin and wrongdoing, in the sense that the former is more serious than the latter. In legal terms, wrongdoing is simply a dishonest behavior, even if it is illegal, and one does not have to go to jail for it, and neither does he have to go to hell for it. A misdemeanour on the other hand is a minor wrongdoing that also does not call for a jail term or a punishment in hell. In many countries, a misdemeanour is considered a non-indictable offense, being considered as less serious than a felony. A felony however is generally regarded as more serious than a misdemeanour and because of that, it is considered as a crime that is punishable by imprisonment, even by death.

Having distinguished between what is and what is not, it should be easier to deal with erring policemen whenever they do something that is against the rules or is contrary to the law. First of all, I do not understand whenever it is said that erring policemen have been sacked. I also do not understand when it is said that there are some policemen who are “pasaway”. As I understand it now, the sacking of policemen generally means removing them from a post, but not removing them from the service. This projection is not only dishonest, it is also misleading, because the public is made to believe that real disciplinary measures are being taken, even if they are not.

Roughly translated, “pasaway” means those who are uncontrollable, stubborn, hard headed, having a mind of their own, and even naughty. I can understand if that kind of a behavior would come from any ordinary citizen, but it disturbs me when I hear that they come from the ranks of policemen who are supposed to be subject to very strict rules of discipline. It is still a long way before Christmas, but if all we could do now is to classify cops between those who are naughty and those who are nice, we are doomed even before we have started. If all we could do is to slap the wrists of naughty cops or move them from post to post, then we are more doomed than ever. I do not know if your interpretation of the English language is different from mine, but some of the wrongdoings committed by some erring cops may already be in the category of felonies.

Due to many cases of negative behavior among policemen, some sectors are saying that the problem could be in the hiring or the training. I say that it could be both, but I also say that it is also more than that, because it could actually be about the lack of proper protocols and the lack of proper monitoring. Assuming for example that some policemen are already committing minor wrongdoings, it could already be considered as a cause for major alarm if it could be proven that they have breached protocols or if it could be proven that the frequency of minor wrongdoings have already reached the maximum limits. Under normal conditions, the baseball rule of “strike three and you are out” could be applicable, but that could only work if someone is taking count, otherwise no one is really out.

As it is supposed to be, there is supposed to be an internal affairs unit (IAU) in every organization that would be in charge of monitoring, investigating and prosecuting erring policemen. As it is actually happening however, the IAU is usually assigned or located within the police department, and that is why the set-up is vulnerable to conflicts of interest, mostly by way of connivance or collusion. In order to remove the apparent conflicts of interests, it may be better to place the IAU in another office other than the police department. In other countries, there is an independent anti-corruption unit (ACU) that is assigned at a higher level, higher than the police department. Whatever is the approach used, the bottom line is that there should be transparency in general, meaning to say that the people should know who is being charged and what actions are being taken.

Some sectors are suggesting that the training of future policemen should be transferred from the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) to the Philippine National Police (PNP). I do not know what difference that will make, but is that not the situation now? Is that not just like suggesting that the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) should be placed under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), even if it is already? On my part, I think the way to reduce the number of rouge policemen is to start from the hiring process. Somehow, there seems to be something wrong with the psychological testing practices of the PNP, and the corrective measures should start there.

E-mail: iseneres@yahoo.com