Commander Mu, master of Big Data

Commander Mu, master of Big Data

The newly promoted police chief hasn't worked 'in the field'

Pol Maj Gen Suwat Sangnum says his agency is not just stopping criminals but also there to help people who suffer from depression. (Photo by Wassayos Ngamkham)
Pol Maj Gen Suwat Sangnum says his agency is not just stopping criminals but also there to help people who suffer from depression. (Photo by Wassayos Ngamkham)

Pol Maj Gen Suwat Sangnum is a most unusual new commander of the Crime Suppression Division; documents are his key weapon in fighting major crime.

Pol Maj Gen Suwat, who assumed his new job on Oct 1 and is nicknamed "Commander Mu," spoke to the Bangkok Post about his unusual path to the top, how to better serve the people and police use of Big Data.

Normally, the commander of the Crime Suppression Division is promoted from the rank of detective or investigator but that was not the case with Pol Maj Gen Suwat. The new commander had been working solely as an inquiry officer and had no experience in running after a thief.

A huge pile of dossiers was his only weapon to catch a criminal, as he put it.

Commander Mu moved from the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption and Misconduct Unit to take the helm at the Crime Suppression Division without so much as a single rival for the job.

Asked about his promotion, he happily admitted he had received support from his predecessor Pol Maj Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, now deputy commander of the Central Investigation Bureau.

Pol Maj Gen Jirabhop once said he backed Pol Maj Gen Suwat due to his ability to manage the work of a division that is full of detectives and investigators.

Promoting an inquiry expert to such a job, he had said, would help improve investigative work, which nowadays plays an increasingly important role in bringing cases to court.

Commander Mu was born in Bangkok's Taling Chan district, the second of four children, to parents who were vegetable farmers in the area. Commander Mu was admitted to the Royal Police Cadet Academy, Class 44, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who is now the deputy commander of Sa Kaeo provincial police.

Pol Maj Gen Suwat worked as an inquiry officer in Lampang for 16 years before moving to the Crime Suppression Division at the Central Investigation Bureau.

After five years he was promoted to superintendent of the inquiry section and led many high-profile cases, including the blockades of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in 2008 by anti-government yellow-shirt protesters.

"I am living proof that inquiry officials, not just detectives, can grow and thrive at this division," Commander Mu said with a big smile. "The key is that we have to make our supervisor see what we are capable of doing."

The division has a heavy load of inquiry work which is no less important than its other functions such as investigations, suppression and arrests. Commander Mu admitted the investigative side of the job was not yet up to scratch but said it was moving in the right direction.

"I came from inquiries. I've learned a lot about the good, the bad and the ugly of it. I will use my experience in the field to develop the division's inquiry work so that it is on a par with the division's other work," he said.

"I want to improve the division's reputation. Our work must be fast, fair and accountable. We must be able to answer society's questions in a transparent manner. Our focus right now is on cases involving influential people, gunmen and sophisticated corruption, which causes great damage to society."

One of the new commander's top priorities is setting up a Big Data system with its comprehensive database that will benefit future work.

"Investigations are slow since we rely on data from other agencies such as the Bureau of Registration Administration, the Department of Land Transport, the Department of Corrections, and so on. With this Big Data project, we will bring data from various agencies together for use by the national police."

The Big Data system is up and running and will be fully completed by mid-2021.

"With the Big Data system, we are able to quickly search and retrieve data. The project is now in Phase 2 but will need some time to be fully completed due to the amount of data that we have requested from other government agencies," Commander Mu said.

"After it is completed, the Crime Suppression Division will work as the national police's central unit in supplying data to other agencies upon request."

Another key task for the division, he said, was to help people with depression, even those contemplating suicide. In collaboration with the Department of Mental Health, the project has staff from the department monitoring at-risk individuals on social media platforms, where they tend to reveal their emotions.

The new commander talked proudly about the project, saying: "The department will alert us to people with mental health issues. After that, we will quickly search their address and match it with other data in our Big Data system. Since it was launched, this project has already helped a number of people."

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (6)