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Sri Lanka Strength
By late 1987, the police had an estimated total strength of
21,000 personnel, with plans to increase to 28,000. The force
expanded most rapidly in the years following the 1971 uprising,
an event that constituted the nation's first major challenge to
internal security; between 1969 and 1974, the police grew from
11,300 to 16,100, an increase of over 42 percent. According to
the United States Department of State's Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices, the force was less than 5
percent Tamil.
Equipment and Training
Following the British tradition, Sri Lankan police were
customarily unarmed during routine patrol duty in the years
following independence. With the growth of ethnic tensions in the
late 1970s and the increasing tendency of both Sinhalese and
Tamil extremist groups to target the police, the government
decided in 1982 to issue handguns to all sergeants and
constables. Chinese copies of Soviet pistols formed an important
component of the police arsenal, and included the 7.62mm Type 54
(modeled on the Soviet TT-M1933) and the 9mm Type 59 (based on
the Soviet PM). For emergencies, the police also used the British
Lee Enfield .303 carbine. The Commando Squadron was equipped with
Sterling submachineguns, repeater shotguns, revolvers, and tear
gas.
Regular force training in the 1980s was conducted at the
Police College in Katukurunda, Western Province. Separate
training facilities for the Special Task Force have been
established in Kalutara, 96 kilometers south of Colombo. Starting
in 1984, foreign trainers affiliated with Keeny Meeny Services
offered counterinsurgency pilot training in the use of Bell 212
and 412 helicopter gunships.
Data as of October 1988
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