A women's group has joined the call for the separation of the police's investigation work from the Royal Thai Police (RTP) in the ongoing reform of the police force, saying police investigators need real independence to maintain transparency and efficiency.
The Thai Women's Movement for Reform (WeMove) previously submitted to Lt Gen Jerdwut Kraprayoon, secretary to a sub-committee overseeing public hearings on the government's police reform, a list of proposed changes to the police organisational reform.
The group urges the RTP to adopt a civilian-style organisational structure as its current decentralised structure and military-style management is unsuitable for ensuring justice in the judicial process.
Under the current organisational structure and management, the RTP is found to lack independence, said the group, adding that one major factor leading to this problem is the appointment of high-level police officials who are required to be approved by people in power such as politicians.
Such politically-influenced officials can interfere in the criminal investigation process which can end up with innocent people being made scapegoats, double standards and delays in the judicial procedure, said WeMove.
The police's investigation section should be separated from the RTP and become an independent and non-hierarchical division under an independent organisation, while capacity building is fully supported for the investigators with thorough training and technological support, said the group.
Under this proposed restructuring of the police organisation, independent investigators will work closely with public prosecutors to ensure justice from the investigation to the indictment process, said the group.
At a previous seminar held by WeMove to brainstorm police from women's perspectives yesterday, Lt Gen Jerdwut said the public hearing on police reform had only begun and is scheduled to end in March next year. All sectors are encouraged to have their opinions heard as to what changes they expect to see in police reform, he said.
A recent survey on national reconciliation found that one major factor blamed for exacerbating conflicts in the nation is the lack of justice in the judicial procedure which is blamed on the police's investigation work, he said. This underlined the need to reform the police's investigation work, he added.
Pol Lt Col Monchai Bunsak, a retired police investigator, said the fact that the superiors of police investigators are actually the ones with the authority to decide whether a case should be forwarded to the prosecution is wrong.
The criminal investigation authority should be taken away from the RTP so police officials will no longer be able to interfere with the crime investigation, he said.