Despite challenges, Sierra Leone Police is going through a period of fresh change and reform under President Julius Maada Bio for professional service delivery.
President Bio started off by having an able Police Chief, William Fayia Sellu whose management competence over the years stands second to none.
Mr Sellu took the oath of office before a well-attended parliament smoothly said through as he possesses the requisite competence and experience to lead the force.
Under his wise leadership, the Sierra Leone Police has earned again their place of respect in society.
The police, despite few criticisms, are now respecters of human rights and freedoms as well as the rule of law than any other security agency within the state.
They are now constantly kept within legal limits and made to value their people who they are oath to protect.
He is quite successful in maintaining professional standards in the police service owing to the number of years he led the Complaints, Discipline and Internal Investigations Departments (CDIID), the disciplinary wing of the Sierra Leone Police.
It is also under the tenure of the current Inspector-General (IG), the police force is being resourced and equipped to protect Sierra Leone 8,000, 000 (eight million) population.
Like any Viable, effective and efficient police agency anywhere in the world, SLP needs resources (vehicles, equipment and communication gadgets) to diffuse crime and fear of crime which is more potent than real crime itself.
President Bio has recently overcome the logistical challenge by procuring 35 vehicles including tow vehicles to boost police operational effectiveness and efficiency particularly in Freetown which has more gray areas than any other community in Sierra Leone.
The supply of the new vehicles is reminiscent of the period of change management in the police force during CSSP (Commonwealth Community Safety and Security) project. The then reform project led by the British expatriate police chief, Keith Biddle who brought in the much-needed logistics to achieve the mission.
The vehicles also have been allocated to various divisions in the country as well as close protection guards deployed to the President, Vice President and Speaker of Parliament.
With the new vehicles, there will be vigorous unarmed patrols along the streets in the city centre and the country’s highways to ensure safety.
It is a way of ensuring visible police presence to stop not only recklessness and dangerous driving on the streets but also to deter other criminal activities such especially robbery pickpocketing, loitering and other brutal crimes. It is proven fact in policing circles that police presence is a deterrence to crime as the more policemen and women there are on the streets, the more effective crime threats are nipped in the bud.
Sierra Leone, over the years, has seen rolling statistics of road accidents in the country.
Recently, the Public Relations Officer at SLRSA (Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority), Abdul Karim Dumbuya was trapped in a fatal road accident along the Freetown-Waterloo highway in PortLoko district.
The situation shows that much more has been done although much has been done. With the new vehicles, clamps would be used to clamp down vehicles parked in prohibited areas or failed to take them off the road to decongest the streets.
With the new police strategy, one would think that it is a duplication of functions as the traffic wardens similarly render similar services.
But, practical observation shows that the road safety corps are not effective in performing the said role as they found it difficult to assert authority in the road. Most times, the wardens, with less means of traffic law enforcement usually have it hot in the streets with drivers, okada riders and sometimes members of the streets.
However, as members of the principal law enforcement agency, the police officers would be more assertive on the streets. The procurement of vehicles, according to Mr Sellu, would be backed up by the supply of uniforms and boots to ensure that police officers are neat on the streets.
Police officers as symbols of power and authority have to be neat while in due execution of their duties so that they command respect on the streets.
Save in exceptional circumstances, the public is ready to obey the law and work with a well-dressed, polite and reasonably firm police officer. Since his appointment, Mr sellu has shown strong commitment to the management of police vehicles and assets, a move that put him in a class of his own.
He hit the ground running in the first year of assuming police command when he introduced the GPS system to locate and track down any police vehicle anywhere, anytime.
The management initiative is to prevent misuse of police vehicles and to ensure their long-life span. Policing in an era of Information and Communication technology, Mr Sellu has paid attention in the digitisation of the police force.
Apart from having a viable ICT system as seen in the Cyber Crime Unit, police website is up and running with the public accessing most its major policies: Strategic plans, promotion policies, MACP (Military Aid to Civil Power), Community or Local Policing Partnership documents, Back to Basics and election policing and governance among others.
As a knowledge-based agency under a prudent management system, the police force has a functioning and well-kept resource centre to satisfy research and academic needs.
Such competent management of the police force has won the love and admiration of the people of Sierra Leone as well as the international community.
Impressed with police management and performance under an able police and result-oriented police chief, members of the diplomatic community in Sierra Leone particularly the American and Chinese embassies have been boosting the police force with logistics and training to make them more effective in the fight against crime.
With a rich experience in policing, Mr Sellu has, several times, tried and tested his policing strategies in the streets within the solid framework of community or local needs policing, and they have worked well for the people of Sierra Leone who now live in safe communities than ever before despite threats of protest hanging in the air.
His recent initiatives of having more police stations and posts in various parts of the country is a way of improving public access to police service and protection unlike in the past when people trek on long distance to contact a police officer.
The IG’s anti-crime measures have also tremendously cut down the dangerous effect of ‘Kush,’ a drug that has been slowly preying on the lives of the youth of Sierra Leone.
The ‘Kush’ threat was recently a source of worry for the people, but such is now over as the supply chain is being disrupted to move Sierra Leone from a narco-state to prosperous and peaceful country.
In the face of threats of protest in the post-election period, the police chief has kept the country safe in partnership with the army under MACP protocols. Joint police-military patrols and deployment in crime-prone or gray areas in Freetown and other parts of the country in a proactive style also keep the country well afloat.
Although several threats have come from faceless would-be protesters, no protester has taken to the streets owing to visible police presence on the streets.
The professionalism and quality service provided by the police has laundered their image which has been battered over the years.
At the moment, the police now enjoy a smooth, direct and cordial work relationship with members of the public who provide timely and useful information to the police to find and stop the bad guys before they strike. The trend of peace is sure to continue as long as Mr Sellu is on the driving seat.