Praiseworthy Institutional Approach Shines in Police Monthly Press Report

Ret. Police Brig.
Omar Mohamed Osman
Amid the rapidly unfolding events facing the country, the monthly press report issued by Police Headquarters often passes largely unnoticed, despite representing an institutional practice worthy of closer attention.
The report does not merely present news about the institution. It provides the public with a summary of what the police have accomplished over an entire month, supported by figures and statistics—an approach that is notably absent from most State institutions.
Peter Drucker, a pioneer of modern management, famously said: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”
This statement perhaps best summarises the importance of periodic reports. They are not merely instruments of communication, but tools for measuring performance, evaluating results and correcting course.
The Sudanese Police Force is the only government institution that consistently issues a monthly press report on a regular basis.
This practice deserves recognition because it demonstrates respect for citizens’ right to information and provides journalists, researchers, and those interested in security affairs with facts and figures rather than rumours or speculation.
In a previous article, we called for the publication of the broad findings and general indicators contained in the annual crime report issued by the General Directorate of Central Investigations.
We argued that such indicators are neither security nor military secrets.
Indeed, similar reports are publicly available on the official websites of police agencies in many countries around the world because they provide an important means of measuring performance, assist researchers and policymakers in understanding crime trends, and strengthen transparency and public confidence in law enforcement institutions.
The June press report, presented by Police Brigadier Fath Al-Rahman Mohamed Al-Tom, the official spokesperson for the Sudanese Police Force, confirms that the institution continues to move in this direction.
The report reviewed the police force’s most significant activities during the month, ranging from the participation of the Minister of Interior and the Director-General of Police in the Fifth United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit in New York to the police leadership’s efforts to oversee the rehabilitation of police facilities, as well as security operations and public services across various departments.
The report also highlighted the institution’s continuing recovery from the damage it sustained during the war.
This recovery has included expanding passport, civil registry and traffic services, processing large numbers of transactions, advancing the digital transformation programme, maintaining security deployments, combating narcotics, protecting vital installations, border crossings and markets, and expanding community policing.
These efforts deserve recognition, particularly given the exceptional circumstances facing the country.
Another positive aspect highlighted by the report is the police force’s continued provision of services across Sudan’s states, its role in securing the agricultural season in the central states, its support for the Sudanese Armed Forces in the Kordofan states, and the continuation of campaigns to regulate the presence of foreign nationals.
These indicators demonstrate that the institution has regained a significant degree of its operational capacity despite the challenges imposed by the war.
Nevertheless, the reporting process could become more mature and effective if future reports included performance indicators such as crime rates compared with previous periods, crime clearance rates and response times.
Such data would provide readers with a more comprehensive picture and transform the report into a statistical and analytical reference rather than merely a presentation of activities.
Some of the figures contained in the report, particularly those relating to financial crimes and the seizure of illicit weapons, also warrant broader analytical examination.
At the same time, these figures reflect the nature of the circumstances the country is facing and do not diminish the considerable efforts being made by the police to restore security and enforce the law.
The continued publication of the monthly press report represents an achievement for both the police and the State.
It strengthens a culture of disclosure, promotes transparency and demonstrates that an institution confident in its performance does not hesitate to address the public through facts and figures.
It is to be hoped that other State institutions will follow this example so that communication with citizens becomes an integral part of public administration rather than an exception.
The police do not merely perform their duties in the field. They also fulfil another responsibility of equal importance: keeping citizens regularly and transparently informed about their activities.
This institutional commitment deserves recognition because it strengthens trust between the police and society and affirms that security is not achieved through police efforts alone, but through an informed partnership between the State and its citizens.

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