November 25, Colombo (LNW): A recent audit of the National Police Commission has uncovered a marked rise in public complaints levelled against the Sri Lanka Police over the past four years, raising fresh concerns about the service’s responsiveness and independence.
According to the review, which covers the period up to 31 December 2024, the volume of grievances has climbed steadily from 1,893 in 2021 to 2,863 in 2024. The intervening years reflect similar volatility: 1,676 complaints surfaced in 2022, followed by a sharp jump to 2,448 in 2023. Officials say the upward trend suggests growing public frustration with policing standards.
The 2024 figures reveal that nearly a third of the complaints centred on alleged inaction by officers, while more than a fifth related to the abuse of authority. The auditors remarked that reforms required under Article 155(g)(3) of the Constitution—intended to bolster the impartiality and effectiveness of the police—had not been meaningfully advanced.
A senior official at the Commission acknowledged that lengthy delays in processing cases were partly due to incomplete or vague submissions from complainants, slow delivery of internal investigation reports, a longstanding vacancy in a key investigative post, and the sheer volume of new cases last year. He added that the backlog had reached “a level that demands urgent structural attention.”
The audit also cast light on a troubling accumulation of unresolved matters: of 5,935 complaints received between 2016 and 2024, some 4,902—around 82 per cent—remained pending as of the end of last year. Notably, none of the files lodged directly at the Commission’s Head Office had moved beyond the initial stage of review.
Auditors urged the Commission to overhaul its investigative processes, warning that persistent inertia risks undermining accountability and weakening public trust in the country’s law enforcement apparatus.
