Uniform as a noun refers to a type of clothing which is similar for a group of people, typically a public organisation such as a fire brigade or police force. Some policemen do not wear a standard uniform , and are thus known as "plainclothes" policemen.

Uniform as an adjective describes things which are all alike, as though made from a mould. The members of a regimented organisation have a uniform code of conduct to follow.

Uniform behaviour implies doing things in accordance with an established policy or set of rules. The members of a uniformed organisation all act in a uniform manner.

Large organisations such as a national police force or a national army have rankings of subordination. Each member has a specific rank relative to all other members. Each rank must obey the orders and directives of all superior rankings, and all rankings must follow the directives and policy of the highest ranking officer.

The military is headed by a general, who is often called the chief of staff, and he has as his superior a civilian politician, usually the minister of defence. The minister of defence, in turn, has as his superior the prime minister.

The national police has a similar organisation, each with a rank and insignia, and there is a chain of command just as in the military. At the top of the chain is the inspector general of police, who answers to the attorney-general. The attorney-general reports to the prime minister.

It is the prime minister who is the top authority for both the military and the police, throughout the country.

Command chain

The lowest ranks report to their superior, and then the reports are given to the next higher rank, and so on, all the way to the inspector general of police and the chief of staff. They give a detailed report of all important activity and operations to their superiors, the attorney-general and the minister of defence, respectively. They, in turn, make their report in a timely manner to the prime minister.

If the prime minister is satisfied with their report, then he gives them a nod of approval. But if he has questions, or if he feels that they have not followed his orders, then he will rebuke them. In serious breaches he will replace them. They know this, and so they try to please him, because they know that if they don't follow his directions then he will find someone else who will. And they will be punished and sent away.

When the prime minister gives his orders to the attorney-general and the defence minister, they in turn repeat the orders exactly to the inspector general of police and the chief of staff. The orders of the prime minister travel down to all units of both the police and the military. That is his job.

If he doesn't do his job well, it will be noticed, and he must give an explanation to the people. Thus the prime minister answers to the people who elected him, and he is responsible for everything that happens in both the police force and the military.

The reports travel upwards toward the prime minister, and the orders flow downwards towards the lowest rankings. That is the way the police and military organisations work, and it is important that all the members of both organisations carefully follow the orders that they are given.

If the men in the ranks do not follow orders exactly they can be punished. So they are careful to follow orders exactly, even those for which there does not seem to be any sane reason. The men in uniform follow orders even when the orders clearly are inhumane or illegal.

This is unfortunate for them and the people who are harmed by their actions. The orders are to blame. The person who gave the orders is to blame. The orders come down from the top. The reports of orders which were followed go up to the top. There they are praised and appraised.

Joint police-military operations

On occasion the police and the military conduct joint operations. When this happens the chain of command remains intact. The inspector general of police directs the police forces and the chief of staff directs the military forces. Both of them take direction from their superiors, all the way to the prime minister, who is kept constantly in touch with events.

On these occasions there is often a widespread media interest, and the representatives of the press and television gather to collect the news as it is released. The inspector general is generally the spokesperson for the police forces, and he will have a press conference site where he gives out sporadic updates on the continuing events. The journalists write down his every word.

The military will also have a spokesperson who gives press conferences from a designated office, and in important events this might be the defence minister himself, who has arrived on the scene in order to be close to the action.

He receives continuing reports of military activity, and relays it to the prime minister. The prime minister then gives detailed orders on how to proceed. He will also give instructions on how the media is to handled, and how much they are to be told.

In situations where joint police/military operations are being conducted, the reports of the police may differ somewhat from the reports of the military, with resultant confusion. The inspector general may report one set of events to the prime minister and the media, and the defence minister may report another, which contradicts the police report.

It often leads to conflicting press and TV reports, which can lead the public to think something is amiss. This is especially true if the government has a poor past record of giving accurate information to the media.

Who gets the credit?

An example is a recent theft of arms and ammunition from military camps; when the suspects finally surrendered to a military man, a general and the military were credited with a resolution of the incident.

The police, however, reported another version of the surrender, in which it was their man, a member of the UTK unit B, should get the credit.

Thus it was that on Aug 1, inspector general of police Norian Mai, before the full brigade assembled at their headquarters in Ipoh, gave a field promotion assistant superintendant to chief inspector Abdul Razak Mohamed Yusof of Unit B UTK.

The promotion was approved at the highest level.

HARUN RASHID is a scientist avidly interested in the application of Islamic principles in international affairs. The promotion of goodwill through civilisational dialogue motivates his writing. His Worldview column is a personal analysis of Malaysian affairs from a global perspective. [#1][Worldview archives][/#]