If you can't trust a policeman, you can't trust anyone. So when a bad cop breaks the rules, he must be punished severely, because his illegal act damages public trust in the law and its enforcers. A policeman was recently suspended from duty and referred to investigation for charges of theft after some expats complained he entered their building in Khaitan and stole money from them. He committed this crime while wearing his uniform and assumed no one will say a word. He was wrong!

The policeman was interrogated by detectives after being identified by the expat victims. The policeman offered to return the stolen money, but his proposal was rejected and he was sent to the public prosecution. Now he is facing trial and hopefully will get some jail time and get thrown out of the force too to set an example.

A dirty cop is an unacceptable notion anywhere in the world. If this man was an ordinary civilian who committed a theft, I would say maybe returning the money is not a bad idea to end the case, but since he is a cop, forgiveness has no place here. There is a general perception of the police that they represent the law, security and protection in the event of a calamity, so it is natural for people to feel anxious when dealing with them, keeping in mind that police officers are not usually nice or friendly. So a feeling of dread and anxiety is a natural reaction, even when there is no reason for it.

I believe there is a big difference between the police in the West and in the Arab world. I feel a lot of comfort in dealing with police officers in Britain or Germany, for example, because I know they comply with the law and perform their duties in the event of exposure to risk without taking into consideration irrelevant elements such as origin, race, religion or social status. This is not the case here, and sometimes not speaking Arabic can be a barrier too. Luckily, this time expats had the courage to speak up. Such incidents affect people's confidence in security, which cannot be tolerated.

By Muna Al-Fuzai

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