THE warning by the Police and Prison Service Commission (PPSC) to corrupt and undisciplined police officers to leave the service on their own is timely!
PPSC chairperson Peter Chingaipe has challenged corrupt and undisciplined police officers to leave on their own, or be pushed out of the service.
Addressing more than 100 officers from the Police Service, Zambia Correctional Services and Immigration Department, at the Livingstone Hindu Hall on Tuesday, Mr Chingaipe notes that the Police Service and the Ministry of Home Affairs were determined to remove some bad eggs to regain the service’s lost glory.
Media reports of corruption among officers or social misconduct spread via social media are indeed an embarrassment to the service and the Ministry of Home Affairs which should come to an end, to say the least.
Police officers are expected to show the highest levels of integrity and professionalism.
It is therefore, unfortunate that some officers are involved in a number of criminal activities.
Many a time, we hear cases of officers engaging in corrupt activities, robbery and theft, drunkenness on duty  or just being  ‘trigger happy cops’ which is an embarrassment to the profession.
And among the topics discussed at the Livingstone Hindu Hall, the discussants touched on disciplinary issues.
Yes, one would say police officers are also human beings and bound to err, but it is also important to realise that, a profession like theirs, demands total discipline, if they are to instill law and order in others. A service they are called to serve upon.
The nation needs sober characters for departments like the police service, immigration department and the likes, to efficiently conduct their duties and help in upholding high values in the country.
It is important for officers to be disciplined and conduct themselves in a sober manner and in supporting Mr Chingaipe’s challenge we feel the cleansing should also start at an individual level, as introspection.
From inception, anyone intending to become a police officer or any security wing should realise that the profession is a noble one demanding total discipline.
Any person that cannot cope with being disciplined should not in the first place apply to be recruited to train as an officer in the police service or indeed the immigration department.
The Government is on an anti-corruption crusade and no miscreants in any department under the Ministry of Home Affairs will be spared.
The Police service must work hard to regain the trust of the public that has been tarnished by a few bad eggs and as Government intensifies its crusade to remove corruption in the country,  officers should abide by their professionalism and  conduct of themselves in a manner befitting their status in society.