Nothing suspicious in cadets’ crowd control assignments: RTP

The issue came into the public spotlight on Sunday after the facebook page “CSI LA” said it received complaints from fresh graduates of police's non-commissioned officer schools regarding suspicious assignments.

The page said several cadets have been assigned as crowd control officers in provinces in central and eastern regions under orders issued just four days after May 14 general election. Copies of the orders have been widely shared since, with netizens expressing concerns that there could be signs of political unrest after the election.

RTP spokesman Pol Lt-General Achayon Kraithong on Tuesday responded to the issue, stating that Thailand has seen increasing public rallies in the past few years, prompting police stations to assign their officers to crowd control duties more frequently.

This could result in personnel shortages at police stations during the rallies, which made it difficult to efficiently perform other police duties such as patrols, investigations, traffic and other administrative tasks, he said.

Achayon said the RTP was thus aiming to prevent such problems by assigning newly graduated cadets as crowd control officers at stations in provinces in Greater Bangkok and other regions.

These assignments are only temporary and the cadets will later be assigned to permanent positions at the station when they are ready, he pointed out.

He added that if there are no political rallies in the areas, the cadets will be tasked with other duties such as monitoring security at public events or patrolling high crime areas.

Achayon added that being assigned to crowd control duties will give the new cadets an opportunity to practice police strategy in a team environment, familiarise themselves with special tools and equipment, and refresh their knowledge of legal procedures in searching, arresting, and communicating with related agencies.

After they finish their assignments, they can either become permanent officers at police stations or training officers for next batch of cadets, he added.