By Sulaiman Jalloh
The director of corporate affairs at the Sierra Leone Police, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Esther Kaintor Dukuray, has said despite the commitment of the police in providing security service in the country, “there is still trust deficit on the part of the public towards the police”, noting that the situation is worsened by a tight environment in which the SLP is operating and the limited personnel including the inadequate resources available to them.
Speaking during the police press conference on Thursday, January 23, 2025, at its headquarters in Freetown, AIG Esther Dukuray said public trust is essential in their operations, especially when addressing emerging crimes like cybercrime, Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), drugs and human trafficking.
According to the police director of corporate affairs, the police force, with support from United Nations Development Program (UNDP), has developed a five-year Strategic Development Plan (SDP) spanning from 2025 to 2029. This plan, she said represents the contributions, views, feedback and perceptions from the general public. “The SLP operates a five-year Strategic Development Plan (SDP) that guides the organization in its day-to-day activities and the recent SDP expired in December last year. In February 2024, a public perception survey on the SLP was conducted by a hired consultant, which formed the basis of writing the next SDP,” she explained.
The development of the SDP 2025-2029 coincided with the Sierra Leone Police’s determination to be transformed from a force to service where their delivery will be anchored on community-oriented policing. It is expected that the transformation will reduce trust deficit from the general public and the people of Sierra Leone which is expected to be launched on Thursday, January 30, 2025 in Freetown.
AIG Dukuray furthered said consultations were conducted across the country something she said set the pace for the validation exercise which told place September last year at the Foreign Service Academy at Tower Hill in Freetown.
She said, the validated document, when launched, will give accountable officers the opportunity to extract their annual work plans for 2025 and subsequent years.