Individual Corruption

According to a 2007 survey conducted by an NGO, cited in Global Integrity 2007, the police force was perceived by Sri Lankans as the most corrupt institution.

The website of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and a 2008 article published by the Asian Human Rights Commission reveal that corruption in the police is a problem, as many of their cases pertain to corrupt practices by the police, such as extortion, making false charges against citizens who refuse to pay. Similarly, there have been cases of police harassing and extorting money from certain sexual oriented groups such as homosexuals, as reported by the US Department of State 2010.

Political Corruption

According to the Transparency International Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Governance Report 2008, the police are used by the government to suppress criticism. According to a 2007 news article by TamilNet, members of the government opposition claim that if they make allegations about corruption within government institutions they will be subject to police harassment.

A 2008 news report from UPI Asia reveals that the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has made several decisions against police officers for abusing their power of arrest, and torturing people purely to obtain bribes, but the rulings have been ignored. This adds to the general perception of police impunity.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012:
- Business executives give the reliability of Sri Lanka's police services to enforce law and order a score of 4.1 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 being 'can always be relied upon').

Centre for Policy Alternatives April-May 2007 (cited in Global Integrity 2007):
- 43% of the surveyed Sri Lankans believed that the police force was the most corrupt institution in the country.