He, therefore, urged the 500 police lawyers across the federation to do more as incompetence in the court had started affecting the finances of the police.
Arase said this at the inaugural Police Lawyers’ Conference and the inauguration of the Officers and Council Members of the Nigerian Bar Association on Wednesday.
He said, “The situation in the civil justice sector presents another daunting challenge as civil actions against the police are either not defended or poorly defended resulting in the award of damages and eventual garnisheeing of police accounts.
“My last count shows that over N1.9bn of police funds in the Treasury Single Account is being garnisheed. If this situation is not urgently addressed, the police may not be able to perform its functions as the limited budgetary allocations will be needlessly lost to garnishee actions.
“Given the institutional challenges the police as a key player in the criminal justice sector faces, reinvigorating the capacity of police lawyers by creating a unique platform where they can network and deepen their knowledge and skills has become imperative, especially in the light of the recent passage of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.”
The police boss also lamented the high rate of failure on the part of police lawyers in securing convictions in criminal trials.
The IG said police lawyers are supposed to be fully involved in investigations so that they could advise detectives properly especially on evidence gathering and also prepare properly for court.
Arase, however, lamented that this was not the case and urged police lawyers to be alive to their responsibilities.
He said, “It remains the responsibility of police lawyers to guide investigators in the gathering, preservation and presentation of evidence as well as ensuring respect for the rights of persons who become the subject of police preventive and investigative procedures, be they suspects or witnesses of crime.
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