The first batch of promotion was not bad. A lot of hardworking meritorious police officers have rightly been promoted. Some of them after several years of quasi demotion, which the belated promotion will never cure as they will retire at a lower grade than expected and will mourn during their retirement at the lack of a transparent system of promotion. Still, some officers who have worked very hard despite all sorts of tribulations, have seen their names forgotten or, in some cases, erased from the list of promotion.

If the leaders of the police force (Don’t blandish the ‘service’ word with me as no true strategy has been worked at, to transform the colonial police into a police service) are not recognized as they should be, how could these very officers be effective. Police officers are rarely congratulated by the government of the day. They have become the ‘Blanche Neige’ (Snow White) of the Republic and have to bear the brunt of all critics.

Police officers can’t moan. They are like drones. They have to climb up and lie down. Police officers are never invited for a cup of tea by the top brass of this country but will always be called for all sorts of things which are often dumped on the police force as a matter of convenience. A good example is the administrative work that police officers have to do in the aftermath of flash floods.

I have seen how officers of all grades, at Abercrombie Police Station, assuaged the angry and hungry victims of flash floods. They dealt, with equanimity, with the genuine ones and the few professionals of social demands. The crowd in front of the Abercrombie Police Station was bigger (women-men-children) than the majority of political parties will draw on Labour Day and yet no riot.

Police officers must be good psychologists, as a misplaced word can have unintended consequences for all of us living within the Republic of Mauritius and yet not a single promotion for those working at the Abercrombie Police Station or posted at the CID Northern Division.

The second batch was, in my humble opinion, a big joke as all those who do effective police duties were not in the list nor on the carbon copy of any wish list (If you think hard, you will understand what I am trying to convey). I am not saying that those working in these auxiliary fields (towing for example) are not meritorious but for God’s sake don’t trample and insult our intelligence.

Do we really want to rope in all officers who are involved on a daily basis to combat the plethora of traffic offences? The promotion exercise does not reflect at all the willingness (real or cosmetic) of those at the helm of power. How can we motivate policemen by not promoting these extremely duty oriented officers?

• Not a single CID officer has been promoted.

• Not a single MCIT officer has been promoted and yet we know that the MCIT has closed successfully a lot of inquiries. I have criticized the MCIT for their methods of yester centuries but I will never blame them for their devotion.

• Not a single ADSU officer has been promoted. Is there something missing here or is it the wrong signal to the wrong people? I see ADSU working on a regular basis. I am deeply awed with their devotion, sincerity and “foupamalist” attitude towards the danger they face.

• Prosecution Unit. The police prosecutors play an important part within our criminal justice system. Yet, they are not on the list. Some have done the job for a decade. Ask any good criminal lawyer the burden that rests upon a police prosecutor. Charles Dickens would have written a novel on their miseries. Yet, not a single promotion.

• Police stations. The promotion exercise has excised the police stations from the list.

The police officers are the only “servants” (they are in fact the servants of the Republic and when you know what they do in practice, you will cry with shame) who are working in conditions which fall foul of our occupiers health and safety standards. Line Barracks is the epitome of failure.

The promotion exercise, if not properly rectified in the coming weeks, will be remembered as an exercise in frustration. The force is feeling dissatisfied and demoralized. The causes of the demotivation stem from the examination to the promotion exercise. There are innumerable reasons that cause workplace demotivation and very low morale but the root cause is the way we ill-treat (not treat) our police officers.

The impact of satisfied and dissatisfied police officers on the workplace can make or break the system. The effects of poor motivation are well-attested and no need to make a list. But the exercise has caused the police force to become a toxic environment.

Unless we are propounding that law and order is not the top priority… Do you know that law and order has never been the subject of an in-depth debate at the National Assembly and never been subject of debate in terms of policy at the Cabinet level, as it is wrongly believed to be the province of the Prime Minister?

How to jump-start our demotivated police force

A presidential commission to review the whole force, and not piecemeal, as has been done by the Drugs Commission. We must also have a master plan for infrastructure for police.

• Modern headquarters
• Modern police stations
• Police stations run only by women to look after women.
• Modern detention centres
• Review the exam system (...)

How is it possible that those who succeed in getting high marks from University of London fail their police exams? (...) Policing is one of the noblest functions in any country. And policing in a free democratic country is not an easy task.

The role of the police encompasses a myriad of complex functions that are so intertwined that separations of these functions are quasi impossible. Some examples:-

1. Crime fighting
2. Community service
3. Peacekeeping
4. Maintaining order

Police is fated to solve all sorts of problems. People believe that police must find the truth. Tell me what other profession has such a one row task! This is clearly a capacity that depends on knowledge, deep understanding of human psyche and each specificity of each sub village and town of the Republic, instant judgment, on the spot initiative, technical ability, logic and restraint.

• Start to pay police overtime as from December 2018
• An automatic promotion after ten years or even less unless bad report from superiors
• Posthumous promotion or retroactive promotion for those who have retired. We can reignite our police force but do we have the courage to ad- dress the frustration mechanism within the force?

Yours in peace !