Shame on shaming

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s plan to publicly shame scalawags in the police force will only exacerbate the problem that it is aimed at solving.

The Commission on Human Rights already objected to public shaming of the cops as it is likely to violate their right, should they come under suspicion, to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

The mayor, however, brushed aside the protest of the commission, dismissing it as biased in favor of criminals over victims.

But if the mayor genuinely bemoans the damaged reputation of the police force, shaming its bad eggs is no remedy but would be tantamount to scrawling on a soot-darkened wall with charcoal.

There is no way the spectacularization of bad cops will redeem the police’s name. It will only solidify public opinion that the current dispensation’s efforts to cleanse law enforcement agencies have little to no effect.

It will discourage upright men and women from becoming cops. Why should they when they would only end up corrupted by being co-opted or by sheer association with rogues?

It will further weaken the morale of the police who would end up being further discredited.

The real solution is the removal, prosecution, and incarceration of those who have stained the name of the police, like Marvin Marcos whose reinstatement continues to render the national leadership questionable.

Apart from making them bear the full weight of the law, there is no need for additional consequences for cops who do the opposite of what they are expected to do.

The remainder of the government’s police resources are best spent on affirming the best-performing policemen and women, the ones whose crime-fighting and peacekeeping work are suffused with respect for human rights.

Unfortunately, those who have jurisdiction over the police grease their slide into crime whenever they ignore or encourage their excesses in the name of iron-handed law enforcement.