Faux cop crackdown promised
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Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 05, 2008 00:00
ANKARA - To combat an increase in the number of crimes committed by criminals posing as policemen and uneasiness among people, the Interior Ministry has started work on new measures to fight against fake policemen, private NTV reported yesterday.
Taking into account that there are many stores where military and police uniforms can be easily purchased at low costs, as a first measure the ministry plans to limit the sale of police uniforms and accessories.
Fatih district in Istanbul is one of the places where the cost of a police uniform is only YTL 85. The stores in the district sell all kinds of gear, too, ranging from police hats to handcuffs. The ministry plans to increase control over such stores, urging them to ask patrons to identify themselves before making the sale.
The ministry also will redesign the police identity cards. The new IDs will be prepared in digital environment which makes counterfeit impossible and will have distinctive features that can be realized even from distant. Police will have to use the IDs together with badges.
Guidelines on new ID cards will be delivered to the police. The police’s obligation to show their IDs before asking for identification will also be noted. Those who do not show their IDs will be subject to a legal proceeding.
The video of a kidnapping scene where five men, dressed as policemen, raided a restaurant in Avcılar district of Istanbul, dragged a 25-year-old woman to a waiting car before taking her away to rape her, caused a public outcry.
While top officials criticized the restaurant owners for not preventing the thugs, the incident uncovered Turkish people’s fear of the police.
Lawyer Uğur Poyraz said there is a law about police asking for identification, in an interview with the NTV yesterday. "The article of a law says a police officer can only ask for identification after showing his own," Poyraz said, arguing that 99 percent of people do not demand identification from police officers. Meanwhile, Istanbul police have published a sample image of a police ID card on its website, www.iem.gov.tr, aiming to raise awareness of the subject.
Fatih district in Istanbul is one of the places where the cost of a police uniform is only YTL 85. The stores in the district sell all kinds of gear, too, ranging from police hats to handcuffs. The ministry plans to increase control over such stores, urging them to ask patrons to identify themselves before making the sale.
The ministry also will redesign the police identity cards. The new IDs will be prepared in digital environment which makes counterfeit impossible and will have distinctive features that can be realized even from distant. Police will have to use the IDs together with badges.
Guidelines on new ID cards will be delivered to the police. The police’s obligation to show their IDs before asking for identification will also be noted. Those who do not show their IDs will be subject to a legal proceeding.
The video of a kidnapping scene where five men, dressed as policemen, raided a restaurant in Avcılar district of Istanbul, dragged a 25-year-old woman to a waiting car before taking her away to rape her, caused a public outcry.
While top officials criticized the restaurant owners for not preventing the thugs, the incident uncovered Turkish people’s fear of the police.
Lawyer Uğur Poyraz said there is a law about police asking for identification, in an interview with the NTV yesterday. "The article of a law says a police officer can only ask for identification after showing his own," Poyraz said, arguing that 99 percent of people do not demand identification from police officers. Meanwhile, Istanbul police have published a sample image of a police ID card on its website, www.iem.gov.tr, aiming to raise awareness of the subject.