It's already intriguing that Pol Gen Kowit has survived this long in one of the country's most important security jobs given his poor performance and uninspiring record. It is also a big question mark why Kowit has been able to retain the trust of the military leaders despite the well-known fact that he was double-dealing even in the most crucial moments on the night of September 19 in the hope of ending up with the winner. Not until he was absolutely certain that the coup-makers were holding the upper hand did he decide to throw his lot in with them.

Kowit repaid them with what amounted to a betrayal. While Army Commander in Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin and his comrades-in-arms trumpeted about heralding a new order, the police chief went about creating his own power turf. Instead of using the mandate given by the coup leaders to clean up the police force, which was subject to persistent abuses under the Thaksin government, Kowit made sure that the patronage system in the law enforcement agency survived the political change.

So police officers with tainted records but closely associated with Kowit were given promotions in the much-criticised reshuffle that came just a week after the coup. Several of those who made serving the public secondary to answering to political demands of the toppled administration found themselves elevated. Kowit treated officers who owed their quick rise to their association with the powers-that-were at the expense of their professionalism as if they had done nothing wrong.

It was an open secret that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was bent on creating what his critics saw as a "police state", using the law enforcement agency to buttress his hold on political power. A former police officer himself, Thaksin personally intervened in the annual police reshuffles to ensure that his former classmates were put in key positions, with the aim of using them to bear down on his political opponents.

As police chief, Kowit cannot deny responsibility for allowing the law enforcement agency to be manipulated by politicians to create a climate of fear. And while his men were more concerned about pleasing their political bosses than carrying out their duty "to protect and serve" the public, public safety suffered.

Thaksin's war on drugs resulted in the most outrageous violation of human rights, with more than 2,000 people classified as drug suspects murdered. The majority were victims of extra-judicial killings - a byword for "legal" murders by policemen. The police force was also turned into Thaksin's personal army to go after local mafias and influential figures who refused to bend to his political will.

One of the claims used by the Gen Sonthi-led National Democratic Reform Council to justify toppling the Thaksin administration was its alleged widespread abuse of power. But more than a month after coming to power, the coup-makers and the government it set up have yet to seriously address the political ills that are Thaksin's legacy. One of these is the politicisation of the police force.

Matters were made worse by what appeared to be Kowit's self-serving police reshuffle and subsequent appointments. The focus is currently on two police generals who were handpicked by Thaksin to serve in positions with crucial political implications.

One of them is Pol Gen Sombat Amornwiwat, a close associate of the former prime minister who was assigned by him to head the powerful Department of Special Investigation. The other is Pol Maj-Gen Surasit Sangkhapong, another of Thaksin's favourite proteges, who was appointed to head the Government Lottery Office, which became a money-making machine after the legalisation of the underground lottery.

It was taken for granted that police officers willing to serve Thaksin's political agenda were more than certain to leapfrog their colleagues in promotions. Sombat and Surasit were just two examples. The two men, out of favour with the new rulers, have sought to be reinstated in the police force as a stepping stone for future promotions. Surasit has already had his wish granted while Kowit has given every indication that Sombat will also get what he wants.

Kowit's move to promote another police officer implicated in the physical harassment of anti-Thaksin protestors outside the CentralWorld shopping complex in August this year also raised many eyebrows. The officer in question is Pol Col Ritthirong Thepchanda, chief of the Metropolitan Police Division 6, who was seen chatting intimately with a man who roughed up a 70-year-old protestor shouting "Thaksin get out!" while the former premier was leaving the shopping complex. Ritthirong and his men stood by and watched while the attack was in progress.

The whole scene was captured on tape and shown by practically every TV station. Thanks to a relentless investigation by Kom Chad Luek, a Thai-language sister daily of The Nation, the assailant was later identified as an ex-convict wanted by prison officials in Surat Thani for jumping parole. Police sources said he was often recruited by police for unidentified assignments. While Ritthirong and his men were lost for words over the incident, critics charged that they were presiding over a deliberate attempt to intimidate anti-Thaksin groups.

Not only were Ritthirong and his men not charged with any wrongdoing, the national police chief was only a step away from rewarding him with a major promotion before Prime Minister Gen Surayud Chulanont reportedly stepped in to intervene last week.

The military leaders that make up the all-powerful Council for National Security are under fire for being tolerant with Kowit. While in private conversations coup leader Gen Sonthi has not hidden his frustration at the slow progress in dismantling Thaksin's legacy and penalising those instrumental in prolonging his stay in power, he and his fellow council members have yet to demonstrate that this is their priority.

Ridding the police force of sycophants is the least the generals can do to restore respect and credibility. It's also the first necessary step towards bringing more professionalism into the law enforcement agency so that it will put its duty to serve and protect above political interests.

Any clean-up of the police force should start at the top.

Thepchai Yong