10 -
17.
Joint recommendations were agreed and are being implemented as quickly as possible.
Much progress has
been made in strengthening and reorganising the Police Headquarters structure and also in improving in-service training, staff relations, public relations, the handling of complaints against Police, and in operational deployment and efficiency.
18. The team's visit has also resulted in a large number of proposals to do with welfare, living conditions and housing and also facilities for recreation, some of which are applicable to the Police and some to other or all elements of the public service. A further point that is under consideration as a result of this enquiry is the extent to which your Government as a good employer should provide financial assistance towards legal costs incurred by public servants who are prosecuted for offences allegedly committed when they are on duty. It is a point of special relevance to the Police. It is vital that
procedures should exist for the quick, expert and impartial investigation of complaints, and the strengthened Complaints Against the Police Office and the UMELCO Complaints Against the Police Committee have greatly improved the situation. But we should remember that complaints are a much higher occupational hazard for Police than for other public servants because they have the duty of law enforcement on the ground; and counter-charges or complaints are sometimes the only defence guilty men can make. The culmination of