Retired Police Official Calls for Overhaul Amid Arab Sector Violence

A former senior police official has called for significant changes in the Israel Police's operational methods and troop deployment, citing the recent triple homicide in Baqa al-Gharbiyya as a catalyst for renewed criticism. Retired Superintendent Motie Adar'i told Maariv that while the police are active, their approach needs an overhaul, particularly in addressing the surge of violence in the Arab community.

Ad'ari explained that investigations into murders within the Arab sector are hampered by a lack of cooperation, describing it as "like arriving at virgin territory and having to start from scratch." In contrast, he noted that investigations in the Jewish community are often easier due to greater cooperation and the availability of witnesses.

He distinguished the current wave of murders from past patterns of organized crime in central Israel, where car bombings were more common. "This is not what we had in central Israel, where you'd be driving and suddenly - boom - a car explodes next to your house. That's less common today," he said, while emphasizing that "murder is murder, let's not get confused. What is happening is not good, to put it mildly."

Ad'ari's proposed solution focuses on visible police presence rather than just station signage. "A police station sign doesn't reduce crime - police officers outside reduce crime," he stated. He advocates for a different deployment strategy, treating routine operations as special missions and vice versa, to effectively combat escalating crime rates.