Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, William Fayia Sellu has urged his personnel to be professional in exercising their duties as police personnel.
He was addressing personnel at the Magburaka Police Division, Kholifa Rowala chiefdom in the Tonkolili district where he spoke on the challenges and causes of unprofessionalism which he said over the years have cost the Force a loss of trust from members of the public.
The police boss said: “You are police officers because you voluntarily chose to be and you are paid from taxpayers’ money, therefore you must serve under all circumstances. You should not waiver in your services”.
Himself and some other senior personnel he said, have been through difficult and worst times but never bothered about it.
“As officers how you talk to people is very important. People come to police to seek redress or justice. The police stations are not for transactions but for service delivery. If not for any reason, always remember that you are not alone in this job that whatever you do affect all of us either directly or indirectly. That is the more reason you have to be very professional in doing the job”.
He reminded the personnel that they are coming from different homes, different parents with different backgrounds but are carrying one name (Police) and urged them to be thinking that whatever they do as individual affects the image of the Force.
He continued that as police, they regulate the conducts of the public but also need to be regulated otherwise they will over do things.
The golden rule of life he said is to treat people the way you want to be treated.
“Ask yourself, what do I want to happen to me when I would have left this job, how am I going to be treated by members of the public when I would have left this job” said IGP Sellu stating that if they want to begin thinking in such away.”
He pointed out that they have seen senior police officers who cannot come to stations after retiring from the job because of their conducts during active service.
As Sierra Leone approaches elections, he called on the community relations department to step out, engage traditional leaders, go to communities, hold community meetings with the Local Policing Partnership Board (LPPB).
The SLP he said is on record to have policed several elections that ended peaceful assuring that the 2023 elections should not be an exception.
The role of Police he emphasised is to provide security for the process and nothing else.
He therefore called on them to be neutral, maintain honesty, trust and sincerity in their conducts.
The SLP he went on has instituted a zero-tolerance drive to drugs, disclosing that they have received 3000 on the spot drugs test kits from the United Nations Drugs Control Office (UNDCO).
He warned them to stay off drugs or risk losing their job, while encouraging them to be united and work as a team, frown at selfishness, backbiting and gossip.
