THE S. D. COOPER-ELWA Junction was on Wednesday evening, a scene of panic following an altercation between some personnel of the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
THE INCIDENT WHICH raised concerns about inter-agency relations and public safety, according to information, ensued after some LNP officers on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, reportedly assaulted an officer of the AFL yet to be identified for riding in a designated motorcyclist’s “No-Go-Zone” despite identifying himself as a member of the AFL.
ACCORDING TO EYEWITNESS accounts, the altercation began around the afternoon hours of Wednesday, February 26, 2025, when Officer William David and others on duty at ELWA Junction were approached by several AFL personnel loaded in a pick-up.
REPORTS ALSO INDICATED that Officer William and colleagues on duty were then approached by the aggrieved AFL officer and colleagues, who were allegedly still agitated from the previous day’s encounter with the police.
HOWEVER, TENSIONS LATER escalated quickly, leading to a physical confrontation that eyewitnesses described as brutal, leaving the officer severely brutalized, while his other colleagues then managed to escape the scene for survival.
IF THE LESSON taught about security interoperability is now forgotten, we reminding security actors that the concept of interoperability simply calls for different security units to work together by easily communicating and exchanging information.
THE ROLE OF the police is to avert and or reduce crimes in society, protect the citizenry from harm and violations; thereby making the police an obligatory agency of social control.
ON THE OTHER hand, the military is charged with protecting and defending the nation against external aggression, and further saddled with the expectation of working in collaboration with the police to provide internal control in society where applicable through interoperability.
WHILE WE AGREE that fractious relation between security agencies obstructs cooperation and collaboration, it is also not strange globally; as the press in 2003 reported army and police in Pakistan clashed over the use of tinted glass.
WE ARE CALLING the attention of security operatives that they are established to control personal and group excesses so that through harmony social life can be ordered and development fostered.
IT IS DISTURBING that security personnel who are charged to maintain peace, detect and suppress crimes are themselves involved in violent altercation.
THE LESSON LEARNED is that inter-agency security clash leaves in its trail destruction of public and private properties, grievous bodily harm, sometimes loss of lives, eroded public trust and disruption of commercial, and other social activities.
WITHOUT GOING INTO the weight of the issue, if the action by some military personnel was a matter of retribution against some police officers , it presupposes that something might have gone previously wrong and we insist that any such action needs to be identified and corrected by the leadership of both institutions promptly for the good of the state and its people.
WHETHER IT WAS superiority struggle, poor communication, mismanagement of information or indiscipline on the part of any officer, let all sides be reminded that inter- agency collaboration is the way to go because it leads to greater efficiency and cost savings by sharing resources.
