Policemen are said to be back on the streets but Nesmahar Sayed discovered that drug dealers and thugs are still out there, too Be careful, my friends mother was kidnapped by thugs, Sherine Ali told her family. She told her family that the mother was waiting in the car while her husband was picking something up from the grocery. When he returned he didnt find neither his wife nor the car. The next day, he received a phone call telling him his wife was left on the ring road but the car would not be returned unless a ransom was paid. The police had traced the call, and arrested the kidnapper. The story didnt end there; the criminals relatives attacked the police station and released him. The story is just one of many making the rounds around the nation, striking fear in Egyptians, especially after the police disappeared from the streets across the nation on 28 January following deadly clashes with demonstrators. This week, several newspapers screamed with the banner whose content was similar in nature, Policemen apologise to the people. Indeed, many policemen say they are opening a new chapter with the public. The new Minister of Interior Mansour El-Eissawi announced that 65 per cent of the police force were back on the job, and under the slogan, Police are at the service of citizens. El-Eissawi said that a new relationship between the police and citizens should be based on mutual respect. On Tuesday El-Eissawi said that State Security had been entirely dismantled and that a new apparatus under the name National Security will be formed to deal with only terrorism and espionage. We are back with the support of honest citizens, a policeman who preferred anonymity told Al-Ahram Weekly. Policemen, he said, were back since last week especially for traffic because the streets were in a state of chaos. The policeman said he believed that they were welcomed mostly by women and young girls, because women suffered the most during the absence of the police, especially from sexual harassment and theft. On 28 January, policemen vanished from the streets, leaving thugs and escaped convicts to roam freely on the streets. While vigilantes became responsible for protecting families and properties, when the so-called reserves returned to their jobs and schools, things took an ugly turn. News of thugs threatening and attacking civilians became the norm. The Higher Council of the Armed Forces last week toughened the penalty for thuggery to the death sentence. Most policemen are not satisfied with the way the media and the government are dealing with them, a police lieutenant who preferred not to reveal his identity, said. He asked how it was that 57 policemen were being investigated for killing demonstrators who attacked police stations on 28 and 29January. What do people and officials want? We are accused of disappearing from the streets. Now we are accused of defending police stations, he said ironically. He said they are satisfying public opinion and the series of scarifying the policemen is continuing. Before the 25 January Revolution we were the victims of corruption in the Ministry of Interior and other ministries . Now we are paying the price for all the chaos. Another policeman believes his colleagues will perform their duty as before. The good ones will remain good, while the bad ones will not work at all and will leave society to take care of its security, said another policemen, believing that the top officials at the Interior Ministry will remain unchanged. Some corrupt high-ranking police officials are still in their jobs and we have to work with them, said the policemen. But he said he deals with them in the new spirit of the revolution. I do not accept their orders like before and I insist that the coming days will be good for policemen. But the main problem as far as Egyptians are concerned is that although policemen are said to be back, they apparently are not in uniform in large numbers, while at the same time dealers are seen selling drugs in public. Yes thats true. Another policeman agreed, saying wearing the uniform alerts thugs and criminals to the presence of policemen who are then attacked. As the plainclothes policeman spoke, a drug dealer came up to him. Theres a great kind. You want to roll?
