Muna Al-Fuzai

With repeated incidents of attacks on police, social media in Kuwait has been filled with rejection of this abhorrent phenomenon that poses a security and social threat to society and threatens the prestige of the police in particular and the authorities in general. This subject is dangerous and worth talking about.

When you are in danger, the first thing you do is to contact the police, but if the police face danger while maintaining the security and safety of people, then who can protect you from criminals and deviant people, who often believe that as long as there is wasta for them, they don't have to fear imprisonment or punishment.

An assault on a policeman a week ago that was all over social media was not the first such incident and will not be the last, especially with the documentation of these incidents with audio and video. I believe that the first culprit is the spread of wasta, because it like a free pass for the aggressor that no matter what he does, he will go scot-free. Also, the policeman should be an example by his actions on the street. Nevertheless, I think no one should justify the crime of assaulting the police, because it is worse than admitting guilt.

All government bodies need to work with public campaigns to educate the people, starting from the family, the mosque, the school and the ministry of information, as a police officer needs help to perform his duties according to the law. Just as we demand that the policeman must respect his uniform while applying the law because he represents the state and not himself, the people must respect the laws that are put in place not only for them, but for other innocent lives.

In the past, we did not hear of conflicts with policemen, either verbal or physical, or that they were attacked, because the majority of people respected the uniform and the law. I think one way to stop and reduce attacks on police is by not accepting reconciliation in cases of assault on police, because it leads to a fall in the prestige of security personnel, which is a dangerous indicator.

I believe that the naturalization process in recent years absorbed a group of people who came from a different culture that does not acknowledge or respect the importance of the law or policemen. Therefore, the behavior of these people is contrary to the nature of our peaceful society. This is undoubtedly clear in the nature of the heinous crimes in recent years, with the spread of terrorism and intellectual extremism.

I believe that every policeman in the street must be required by the interior ministry to perform physical exercises and possibly some weightlifting and join a sports club to strengthen his body and muscles so that he is able to protect himself physically.

There have been claims that the police have Tasers for use in case of attacks, which is good and required in these situations. It is also necessary to prevent any official or MP from using his connections or wasta to let off the hook any person who assaults a policeman.

The protection of the policeman is a protection of the society and the security of the country and the people. This should not be a matter of dispute or debate.

By Muna Al-Fuzai

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