Beiruting News

'Sakker El Dekkene' association honored agents and officers from the Ras Beirut Pilot Police Station on Bliss Street today, rewarding them for fighting corruption, arresting bribers and referring their cases to the general prosecution.




The NGO's President, Rabih El Chaer, congratulated three police agents and three officers in charge of the station, awarding them Sakker El Dekkene's "Corruption Buster" Certificates. Bike Patrol Officer Jean Kabbani, Foot Patrol Officer Maroun Roukoz, and Duty Officer Fouad Khaireddine were honored for their refusal to accept bribes. Station Commander Captain Merched Habshi, and his Assistants First Lieutenant Elie Fahed and Lieutenant Ahmad Ouaidat, were praised for the team's integrity level and for the police station's impressive work. "This station is a real pride for all Lebanese. In regular circumstances, there is no need to thank the police for performing their duty. However, people's lack of trust in our security forces in addition to the preeminence of crime and corruption over the power of the state encouraged 'Sakker El Dekkene' to turn the spotlight on outstanding initiatives within the public administration and security forces. There are more than 25,000 members in the security forces, of which only a minority is corrupt.This minority distorts the reputation of the institution as a whole. We, at 'Sakker El Dekkene', condemn corruption wherever it exists and we demand the accountability of the corrupt no matter who they are. We strongly encourage those who are fighting corruption from within the institutions, knowing how hard this is. We want all stations and all ISF members to follow in Ras Beirut Police Station's footsteps so we can take the country to the highest level of integrity, performance and prosperity."




El Chaer also congratulated the team for decreasing, within a year, the level of crime in Ras Beirut by 50%. He said, "We thank the former and current Ministers of Interior, and the Directorate General of the Internal Security Forces for supporting these reforms. A new way of dealing with citizens based on transparency and respect for human rights was introduced within the Security Forces. The computerization of the station has also made it possible to monitor all crimes and offenses while knowing exactly where they took place in addition to the timing, and the identity of its perpetrators and victims. This enhances the effectiveness of the unit in its fight against crime and thus allows citizens to hold accountable any failures that may occur." "We hope the Council of Ministers and Interior Ministry allocate ten percent of the 300 million dollars granted to the ISF in order to improve all police stations, avoiding tens of thousands of crimes, and improving the speed and transparency of investigation procedures", he added.




The 'Sakker El Dekkene' delegation toured the station and checked its new reception area. It was briefed on the station's detention procedures, its code of conduct, the transparency of the computerized investigation procedure, the bike and foot patrols' community policing skills, as well as the analysis team's work on crime data used for preventive policing.