BEIRUT: When policeman Jean Arbani was offered money by a man breaking the law on the corniche, the officer did something unheard of in the neighborhood: He arrested the criminal for bribery.
Arbani and two of his fellow policeman were honored Monday for reporting cases of corruption. The three officers are examples of what the Internal Security Forces says are the fruits of the Police Pilot Project, launched a year ago at the Ras Beirut police station.
Though the community project is not without its critics – including residents of the area who say it has had no impact – the ISF says it is having a positive effect on the community.The project was launched with the goal of modernizing the Ras Beirut station and building trust between the community and ISF officers. It has seen several key measures introduced, including the refurbishment of the police station, bicycle patrols on the corniche and an increased focus on stamping out corruption.
“[The Ras Beirut police station] is almost idealistic,” said Rabih al-Chaer, president of anti-corruption NGO Sakker El Dekkene. “[People are treated] as human beings, they have rights and we can collect data and we can fight crime including [rejecting] corruption and we saw that ... last year, the rate of crime decreased by 50 percent.”
The project was jointly funded by the American and British embassies.
The ISF gave a tour Monday of the Ras Beirut station – whose name was changed from Hobeish due to the notorious reputation of the former institution – to demonstrate the results of the project.
The facility is the first in Lebanon to have consultation rooms in which meetings are recorded by video and audio. It is modern and clean, with electronic keycards required to enter each section.
The only noticeableproblem within the facility is the cells. Upon opening the door that leads to them, a pungent stench instantly wafts out.
“This is only a holding cell and people shouldn’t be here for longer than 48 hours ... but due to a lack of space in prisons they often stay longer,” lamented Cpt. Mershed Habshe, who guided the tours.
“We don’t have the facilities to let people shower, because we’re not actually a prison,” he said.
During the tour, Sakker El Dekkene, an NGO, handed out the three certificates to the officers who had reported cases of corruption.
Arbani, who arrested the man who tried to give him a bribe, works as one of the new bicycle patrol officers on the corniche. Following training in Belfast, Northern Ireland by the British police, he was put to work patrolling the seaside stretch from Ramlet al-Baida to Mina al-Hosn.
“Our first job was to hunt down all the violations on the corniche,” Arbani told The Daily Star. “[One day] we stopped a few guys and one of them said he wanted to speak to me privately. He put his hand out to give me some money. I took the money and arrested him.
“We took him to the police station and he was tried by the judiciary.”
“[This is] the first time we saw that, not only did the policeman refuse a bribe but he reported it,” Chaer said. “So the judges are following up all those who try to corrupt a policeman.”
But many shop owners and employees who work on Bliss Street near the police station expressed mixed feelings over the PPP.
While one employee told The Daily Star that he had seen an increased police presence and felt safer, many others said they had not noticed a change, nor did they feel a closer connection to officers – which was one of the goals of the project.
Mohammad, an employee at a takeaway shop who did not wish to use his real name, said that the ISF had confiscated his motorcycle as he was changing his oil in October for no apparent reason.
“I went [into the Ras Beirut police station] every day for three days and [the officers] would just be sitting there smoking cigarettes and they’d tell me, ‘Come back tomorrow,’ with no reason why,” he recalled.
“Nothing’s changed, they’re exactly the same.”
Chief of the ISF’s Public Relations Department Joseph Musallem conceded that while there were improvements the initiative was not yet perfect.
“The statistics show we’re doing very well,” he told The Daily Star. “[But] we are not angels; maybe there will be some mistakes.”
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