Police chief wants wider powers of detention
MANOP THIP-OSOD
Police should be allowed to detain suspects longer for interrogation in
security-related cases and be given more equipment to better cope with
violence in the deep South, national police chief Kowit Wattana said
yesterday.
Pol Gen Kowit said he would like to see the law, particularly for suspects
in security-related cases, changed to give police the power to detain them
for longer periods than ordinary crime suspects.
Police can detain suspects in all cases for a maximum 84 days and require a
court extension every 12 days.
He said since the resurgence of southern violence on Jan 4, police have
suffered more casualties than soldiers or civilians.
A wanted list of 46 Muslim militants has been issued, with their pictures,
and rewards offered. One of them was killed in a clash with soldiers on
Monday.
``All police units [in the deep South] are concentrating on developing
community relations and village security teams. I believe peace will begin
returning to the troubled areas this month,'' he said.
The Royal Thai Police yesterday handed over 3.5 million paper cranes folded
by police and their families to Pol Maj-Gen Chukiat Prateepasen, commander
of the Police Aviation Division.
They will be included in the airdrop of paper cranes over the provinces of
Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat on Dec 5.