The police exist to serve four critical purposes that tend to sometimes compete against each other. First they are community representatives only in uniform but are a reflection of societal relations, goals and aspirations. They are legal actors upholding the rule of law and derive their powers from laws as state agents.

Their legitimacy rests upon adherence to such legal rules and their actions are warranted only to the extent of those powers granted by law. Uganda Police have undergone a series of ups and downs that have been manifested through different political strategies, inadequate funding, appointment of military officers to head it and a commission of inquiry.

The latest innovation has been increased visibility of Special Police Constables (SPCs) on the streets. A total of 1,070 SPCs have been recruited, trained and deployed in Kampala with more than 4,000 still undergoing training. This follows the Usalaama community policing strategy whose results are yet to be realised let alone understood by the citizens since the group has been associated with the infamous 'Kiboko' squad and the CCTV scheme is still in its infancy.

Uniformed patrols ( both foot and mounted) are a new phenomenon in Uganda except that these are more visible all over Kampala. The previous patrols have always been tagged to specific incidents like appearance of treason suspects in court.

However, these are intended to be permanent (beyond Chogm period) as the Uganda Police Spokesman reiterated that "Police will be present and visible and be felt in order to react to incidences" (Daily Monitor, October 16). The purpose of beat policing is mainly preventive. It aims at scaring away the would be criminals and enable police respond quickly to public calls for action. However, the problem with beat policing as experienced elsewhere has been public perception.

Because of growing criticism amidst corruption, rising crime and disorder, fall in confidence levels, rise on economic investment and requirements for Chogm security, policing has become a political issue. The police need to look at how to allay the fears and perception of the public with such deployment so that people do not look at SPCs as a unit to suppress their interests given the police role in quelling political demonstrations and economic unrest.

The deployment should reflect significant impact in decline in crime rates, rise in detection rates and overall reduction in fear of crime. The CCTV scheme should complement such a move. However, the present structure of policing may not cope with the competing demands of national and local priorities.

The scale and nature of international crime, technology and terrorism demands a police force that is sufficiently focused and resourced. The current political climate ( read multiparty politics) requires the police to respond quickly and identify crime problems. Police need to be accountable to the public and be more responsive to local needs. The deployment of SPCs should well cater for all these.

Little has been shared about the recruitment of this group. The standards of entry, their qualifications, who recommended them etc are critical for them to gain public support. With all the issues raised with the recruitment of police cadets, the effect of any suspicion will be detrimental to their operations.

It is important that this group is well trained on customer care and community relations. They will be the 'face' of the police on the street and will greatly improve the image of the force if they can effectively show signs of customer care, a topic that is yet to be put on the police curriculum.

There have been several incidents of Human Rights violations by the maroon dressed Local Defence Forces especially with the use of excessive force. They account for most of the incidents where police kill.

What is interesting is that the commandant of the Police Training School said (Daily Monitor, October 16) that they should be entrusted with firearms only in special circumstances yet we see most of them with the AK-47 on the street. So is the public safe?

The author is a specialist in criminal justice