08
Oct
Police officers not allowed to be human – Lionel De Souza
Here’s the letter published in the Straits Times today:
MONDAY’S report, (‘Girl’s death: Officer blogs about his guilt’), is disconcerting to the good image of the Singapore Police Force and perplexing to police retirees like myself.
When I was an active officer, we were constantly reminded that personal emotions and opinions should never cloud or affect the performance of any officer.
The only pertinent question that an arresting officer should ask himself is whether he was justified in arresting the suspect.
The older generation of police officers did not endure sleepless nights because we arrested a suspect, nor after being involved in shoot-outs with criminals, some of whom were sent to the gallows eventually.
I may sound callous, but the police officer’s blog is contrary to good order and discipline, which are part of the foundation of the police force. Musings and self-doubt demoralise other officers and, if allowed, may corrode the confidence and professionalism of the police force.
The force should not rule out instituting disciplinary action against such acts as ventilating one’s emotions in a blog. It already has sufficient avenues open for a distressed officer to seek professional help and counselling. Going public with one’s act of contrition isn’t one of them.
Lionel De Souza
Firstly, I do not begrudge his statement that personal emotions and opinions should not prevent a police officer from doing what’s right. I take special exception to De Souza’s assertion that the specific police officer’s blog contravenes good order and discipline.
Pray tell, sir: how does blogging affect one’s discipline? That one’s most pensive thoughts would cause other officers to be demoralised? And how does that cause the police force as a whole to have weakened confidence and professionalism?
A careful reading of the 5th paragraph displays clearly how this author is leading on premise after premise, building each assertion without proper justification of the basis of his claims.
De Souza, are you suggesting that a police officer has no right to express his own opinion and feelings on a personal website? How dare you deny them their right to freedom of speech? Aside from official secrets, which cannot be published as civil servants are bound by the Official Secrets Act, how dare you suggest punishing people for penning their thoughts down when they are off-duty?
If the morale and discipline of the local police force were that easily weakened by an honest posting of a person’s thoughts on the Internet as what De Souza has suggested, it implies that the police officers are not sufficiently trained to contain their human emotions while on the job. That is quite a daring insinuation about the quality of training our police force undergoes, so I hope that he will shed some light on why he believes this to be true.
Lionel concludes his letter with a conclusion: police officers aren’t allowed to show emotions of guilt even while they are off-duty. No siree. Emotions are for human beings, and you’re not allowed to be one.
on October 9th, 2008 at 11:21 am
[...] Wai’s Random Musings: Society: Policeman blames himself for girl’s death – PKChuKiss: Police officers not allowed to be human – Lionel De Souza – Simply Gab: Changi Airport Corporatisation: from the hand that swipes the ass to the hand that [...]
on October 9th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Lionel is like LKY, they are past their prime.
on October 9th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Yup, it’s true, police officers can only blog or write letters to State Times like Lionel once they left the force. No exception!
on October 9th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
This guy always “suck” the toes of the unclothed king and follow behind the entourage. He hopes to get some leftovers in the process.
on October 9th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Yes, I Googled his name because that name looked vaguely familiar. Turns out that his letters are frequently published in the Straits Times. I’d figure that it’s not a hard editorial decision to make, especially when his letters tend to reflect the official stance.
I sincerely hope that the police officer referred to in De Souza’s letter will not be punished for doing what is essentially a human thing.
on October 9th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
“…The older generation of police officers did not endure sleepless nights because we arrested a suspect, nor after being involved in shoot-outs with criminals, some of whom were sent to the gallows eventually…”
What a load of BS. How does he know how every single one of the “older-generation” policemen felt when they went home and laid on their beds? If a policeman doesn’t reflect on his actions, how does he improve the next time he comes across another situation? This just shows that this de Souza guy is a pure and simple robot that used to be a chess pawn of the political machinery.
on October 11th, 2008 at 10:19 am
[...] Wai’s Random Musings: Society: Policeman blames himself for girl’s death – PKChuKiss: Police officers not allowed to be human – Lionel De Souza – Simply Gab: Changi Airport Corporatisation: from the hand that swipes the ass to the hand that [...]
on October 21st, 2008 at 8:42 am
I wonder what gives him the right to criticize others for penning down their emotions on their blog after office-hours? Probably his big ego or perhaps he was just trying to earn some extra bucks from writing crap…guess he couldnt find a job after retiring…
on October 24th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Nah, I heard that he’s a detective with a private investigators’ firm, so he’s not without a job. I just guess that some people are really that weird.
on October 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I see….maybe he has just too much time….