Sri Lanka Police Service

Roles

Law enforcement

Fighting crime

Carrying out investigations

Drug enforcement

Security of police

Keeping public security

Maintaining public order

Counter-terrorism

Securing public events, rallies and holidays

Riot control / crowd control

Intelligence services

Providing VIP security (VVIP security is handled by the Special Task Force)

Handling suspicious objects and bomb disposal (EOD) (handled by the Special Task Force)

Handling the local command of the Home Guard

Assisting the Prison Service in prisoner transport and control of prison unrest

Road safety and Traffic control

Coordinating emergency services

Police and community

Handling civilian complaints

Handling youth violence and crime

Educating the community and participating in educational campaigns

Offences investigated

Offences against the State.

Offences relating to the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Offences relating to the Elections.

Offences relating to Coins, Currency and Government Stamps.

Any Offence committed against the President.

Any Offence committed against a Public Officer, a Judicial Officer, or the Speaker, or the Prime Minister or a Minister, or a Member of the Judicial Service Commission, or a Member of the Public Service Commission or a Deputy Minister or a Member of Parliament or the Secretary General of Parliament or a Member of the President's Staff or a Member of the Staff of the Secretary General of Parliament.

Any Offence relating to property belonging to the State or a State Corporation or Company or Establishment, the whole or part of the capital whereof has been provided by the State.

Any Offence prejudicial to National Security or the maintenance of Essential Services.

Any Offence under any law relating to any matter in the Reserve List other than such offences as the President may, by order published in the Gazette, exclude.

Any Offence in respect of which Courts in more than one Province have jurisdiction.

International Crimes.

History

Timeline of significant events:

1797: The office of Fiscal was created. Fredric Barron Mylius was appointed as Fiscal of Colombo and entrusted with responsibility of policing Colombo.

1806: The regulation No. 6 of 1806 appointed a Vidane Arachchi to each town or village, for prevention and detection of crime in rural areas.

1832: A committee appointed by the governor was instructed to form a police force. It was decided by this committee that the new police force was to be funded by a tax to be paid by the public. It consisted of one Superintendent, one Chief Constable, five Constables, ten Sergeants and 150 Peons. They were responsible for maintaining law and order in the capital city of Colombo.

1844: As the police force was restricted to coastal areas only, a second police force was created to cater to the country's interior.

1858: The police force in the coastal area and the police force in the hill country were unified and amalgamated.

1864: The first death of a police officer whilst on duty occurred when he attempted to apprehend a brigand by the name of "Saradiel", who was subsequently compared to Robin Hood.

1865: The Police Ordinance was enacted to stipulate the powers and responsibilities of policemen.

1866: William Robert Campbell, then the chief of police in the Indian province of Rathnageri, was appointed as Chief Superintendent of Police in Ceylon on 3 September 1866. This date is considered as the beginning of the Sri Lanka Police Service.

1867: The Chief of Police was designated as the Inspector General of Police. William Robert Campbell became the first Inspector General of Police. The Police Headquarters was founded at Maradana, in the City of Colombo.

Organisation

The Sri Lanka Police is headed by the Inspector General of Police, who has, in theory, autonomy to commanding the service from the Police Headquarters in Colombo, and support by the Police Field Force Headquarters. However, in the recent past the Police Service has come under the purview of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), with the exception of several years when it came under the Ministry of Internal Affairs but was transferred to the MoD. In the last few years there have been calls to reestablish the independent National Police Commission to oversee transfers and promotions, thereby making the service autonomous and free from any influence.

The police service is organised into five primary geographic commands, known as ranges (Range I, II, III, IV, V), covering the northern, western, eastern and southern sectors of the island under the command of a Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG). The ranges were subdivided into divisions, districts, and police stations; Colombo was designated as a special range. Each police division headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) covers a single province, and a police district headed by a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) covers a single district of the country. In 1913 there were a total of 119 police stations throughout the country, that number has increased to 432 in 2020.

With the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War the strength and the number of stations have increased. Since 1971 the police service has suffered large number of casualties, with officers and constables killed and wounded as a result of terrorists and insurgents. In more remote rural areas beyond the immediate range of existing police stations, enforcement of simple crimes are carried out by the Grama Seva Niladhari (village service officers), but this has now become rare, with most villages covered by new police stations.

In addition to its regular forces, the police service operated a reserve contingent until 2007 when the Reserve Police Force was disbanded and its personnel transferred to the regular police force. The police service has a number of specialised units responsible for investigative, protective, counter-terrorism and paramilitary functions.

Investigation of organised criminal activity and detective work are handled by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) under the command of a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). More coordinated threats to internal security, such as that posed by the radical Sinhalese JVP in the 1980s, were the responsibility of the Counter Subversive Division, which was primarily an investigative division, and which has since been replaced by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). The TID carries out counter-terrorism investigations and threats to internal security from the LTTE.

Specialised units and divisions

Protective units

President's Security Division

Prime Minister's Security Division

Ministerial Security Division

Parliament Police Division

Judicial Security Division

Diplomatic Security Division

Counter-terrorist units

Special Task Force (STF)

Terrorist Investigation Division (TID)

Crime-investigation units

Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

Colombo Crime Division

Police Narcotic Bureau

Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID)

Children & Women Bureau

Disappearances Division

Human Rights Division

Law enforcement

Traffic Police

Tourist Police

Anti-Riot Squad

Police Kennels (K9 units)

Ombudsman Division

Peacekeeping and international deployments

In recent years members of the Sri Lanka Police have taken part in international deployments either as advisers, observers or seconded police officers for United Nations missions. These include:

Since 2002, Sri Lankan Police personnel have taken part in several United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide;

United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

United Nations Mission in Sudan

United Nations Mission in Liberia

Special Task Force personnel have been assisting the Chinese police for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in dealing with possible terrorist threats.

Ranks

Gazetted officers

A gazetted officer is a police officer in the Sri Lanka Police Service whose name is published in the Police Gazette of Sri Lanka. They are equal to commissioned officers.

Requirement

Requirement to the police service is carried out at four stages. These stages are based upon the entry ranks and educational qualifications of the recruits.

Probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police - Male/female graduates (aged 22–26 years) may apply and must face an entrance exam.

Probationary Sub Inspector of Police - Males/females who have passed GCE Advanced Levels (aged 18–25 years) may apply and must face an endurance test and a written exam.

Police Constable - Males who have passed GCE Ordinary Levels (aged 18–25 years) may apply and must face an endurance test and a written exam.

Women Police Constable - Females who have passed GCE Ordinary Levels (aged 18–25 years) may apply and must face an endurance test and a written exam.

Police Constable Drivers - Those who complete up to grade 7 at school or higher with valid driving license (aged 19–35 years) may apply and must face an endurance test and a written exam.

Composition of the police service

Since its establishment in the 19th century, the police service has been a centrally controlled national police force. Due to this, its personnel are not recruited and deployed provincially. During the colonial period much of its senior officers were British, with lower ranks made up of natives. However this composition did not mirror the racial composition of the island. Many of the locals in the Ceylon Police Force were Burghers, followed by Sinhalese and Tamils. This was common in the government sector and continued until the mid-1950s. Following political efforts to balance the racial composition of the police service to mirror that of society, and due to the civil war, the composition has become imbalanced once again, with the majority of the officers being Sinhalese. Currently steps are being taken to address this and personnel of all entry levels are recruited from all racial groups of the island.

Uniforms

Historical

With the establishment of the Ceylon Police in 1866, standard uniforms based on the ones of the British police forces were adapted. Officers of the grade of Inspector and above who were mostly British wore white colonial uniforms, which are still used today for ceremonial occasions. Constables wore dark blue tunics, shorts and a black round cap with a collar number. Khaki uniforms were adopted by the beginning of the 20th century for practical reasons, along with other military and police units of the British Empire. This was common for all ranks, with the constables wearing khaki tunics, shorts and hat, while always armed with a baton until 1974.

Current

The current standard uniform comes from the last major changes made in 1974. However, several additions have been made since then for practical reasons. The old white uniform still remain as the full-dress uniform of gazetted officers above the rank of sub inspector SI, only worn for ceremonial occasions and weddings. This includes white tunic, trousers (or skirt), and medals, and is adorned with black epaulettes with rank insignia, a black leather cross belt with the lion head badge with whistle and chain, police badge-affixed black leather pouch, sword, and a white pith helmet. Senior gazetted officers (of and above ranks of ASP) may wear a waist sash in gold colour instead of the cross belt. Mounted officers wear a red tunic for ceremonial occasions with a gold cross belt and a black custodian helmet. Gazetted officers above the rank of sub inspector (SI), carry swords, and constables carry lances with a police pennant.

The No.01 khaki uniform is worn for most formal occasions. This consists of a dark khaki jacket adorned with black epaulettes (Gazetted officers above the rank of sub inspector - SI), white shirt, black tie with dark khaki trousers or a skirt, black peaked cap and medals.

The No.02 khaki uniform is the normal working uniform of all police officers. It consists of a dark khaki shirt (long or short sleeved), dark khaki trousers or a skirt, black peaked cap, and medals ribbons. Gazetted officers of and above the grade of superintendent wear black "gorget patches" on all types of uniforms. Officers above the rank of sub inspector SI, tend to wear a short sleeve tunic like a "bush jacket" as part of their No.02 khaki uniform. Black sam browne belts are worn by Officers above the rank of sub inspector - SI, with traffic policemen wearing white peak caps and the white belt with sam browne belts on their khaki uniforms. Constables and sergeants wear their service numbers on their uniforms. For practical reasons overalls of green or black may be worn with boots when necessary.

Special Task Force personnel usually wear khaki uniforms which are slightly lighter in colour. They tend to wear DPM camouflage uniforms with boots and bright green berets.

Awards and decorations

The Sri Lanka Police has its own awards and decorations that are awarded to its officers for services in the line of duty.

Weapons

Sri Lanka Police officers normally don't carry weapons (but are advised to). The Special Task Force with its wide range of duties is equipped with a greater variety of firearms and a higher degree of firepower to carry out military type counter-terrorism operations.

Vehicles

Hyundai Elantra, Volkswagen, Mazda and Subaru patrol cars

P2 armored cars

Mitsubishi Galant cars

Proton cars

Mazda BT-50 pick-ups

Tata Safari SUVs

Kawasaki 750cc motorcycles

Hero Honda 200cc motorcycles

Tata Sumo SUVs

Suzuki 500cc motorcycles

Mahindra Scorpio SUVs

Yamaha 600cc patrol bikes

Bicycles

Notable officers killed in the line of duty or assassinated

SDIG T.N. De Silva - Senior DIG Colombo Range, killed by a LTTE suicide bomb attack on 18 December 1999

DIG Bennet Perera - Director, Criminal Investigation Department (CID); shot dead on 1 May 1989 in Mount Lavinia; JVP suspected.

SSP Ranwalage Sirimal Perera - Superintendent of Police; killed with president Premadasa by a LTTE suicide bomb attack on 1 May 1993

DIG Terrence Perera - Director, Counter Subversive Division; shot dead on 12 December 1987 in Talangama; JVP suspected.

DIG Upul Seneviratne - Director of Training, Special Task Force; killed in a roadside bombing on 7 August 2006, LTTE suspected

DIG Charles Wijewardhana - Superintendent of Police, Jaffna; abducted and killed in Jaffna on 5 August 2005, LTTE suspected

Constable Sabhan - The origin of the annual Police Day commemoration dates back to 21 March 1864, when Constable Sabhan died of gunshot injuries received during a police raid to apprehend the notorious bandit Utuwankande Sura Saradiel.