ISRAEL LOOKING TO PRIVATIZE
Landau: Privatize police, prisons or face serious trouble
Assaf Zohar 10.09.2001 16:15
Minister of Public Security Uzi Landau is proposing to privatize the police and prison service as a solution for the severe lack of resources and manpower affecting the two law-enforcement bodies.
In a "Globes" interview, Landau says he is considering either privatizing some police work by transferring it to private security companies or enhancing the authority of the municipalities. In contrast to the Prison Service and his predecessor, Landau supports full privatization of the Prison Service and the immediate establishment of private prisons.
Just before the decision on next year¹s police budget, Landau said it is inconceivable that the police budget would not be increased next year, adding that its manpower should be increased now, without waiting for the next Orr Committee (the committee was formed to investigate the riots that led to the death of 13 Israeli Arabs in confrontations with police).
"The Orr Committee is currently holding its sessions, just as the Agranat Commission was once established to investigate the chief complaint against the Israel Defense Forces (in the Yom Kippur War in 1973) ŒWhy didn¹t you prepare your weapons for war.¹ It's increasingly apparent that one of the reasons the Orr Committee was set up is that the police had insufficient manpower, means of self-protection, and crowd-dispersing equipment".
"We already had to disperse riots on the Temple Mount. People were killed and we paid a diplomatic price for having few forces there. If we had placed large forces in these two locations, we could have prevented severe injuries and loss of life," Landau said.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on September 10, 2001