Military, police better not work together: Brownfield

The visiting US assistant secretary for narcotics and law enforcement affairs has suggested that military and police had better not work together at the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab). Addressing a ‘media roundtable’ in Dhaka, William Brownfield said that military and police had better not work together – but if they have to, there should be adequate oversight and accountability. Brownfield, who arrived here on Saturday on a 3-day visit, did not make any direct comment on Rab saying he was not the right person to answer questions that are ‘political or social’ in nature. He said it is better for Bangladesh to have a situation where the military performs military mission and police perform police mission. ‘Soldiers are not police. Police are not soldiers. They are trained differently and they are equipped differently,’ he said. But there are exceptions in the world including in his own country. He said members of the coast guard accompanied the US navy, which is a military force, when they were deployed in waters. Brownfield said like everywhere in the world, US military did not have the authority to arrest or detain someone that the coast guard can. He said the US solved the problem by marrying up the two forces in waters so that they can arrest any smugglers or illegal goods carrier and produce them to the US court. He, however, said history suggested it should be done as rarely as possible. ‘The best outcome is when police are able to do policing missions and military do military missions,’ he added, according to a news agency.