Egypt's Police Coalition held a forum Friday to discuss means of establishing a police union to defend police working rights.
The meeting, held at the Police Club in Cairo's Nasr City, announced a plan to elect five officers to represent the coalition for each of the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Qalyoubia, Assiut, North Sinai and Qena.
The coalition will further elect sub-committees in other governorates.
The union plans to establish a link of communication between police officers and officials at the Ministry of Interior, reported Al-Ahram Arabic news website.
The meeting also criticised the recent cabinet reshuffle that saw the sacking of Minister of Interior Ahmed Gamal El-Din.
Meanwhile, coalition media coordinator Hesham Saleh told Al-Nahar TV anchor Mahmoud Saad Friday that they were optimistic about the new minister of interior, Mohamed Ibrahim.
Saleh added that the aim behind the creation of a union is to establish a legal entity within the interior ministry that unites the police apparatus and work on developing the ministry.
"They [police officers] know better than others how to purge and reconstruct [the ministry]," added Saleh, who criticised the media for not offering police offciers a platform to speak.
Many observers believe that widespread police brutality in Egypt was one of the main causes behind the eruption of the January 25 Revolution.
Clashes between protesters and the police during the 18-day uprising against the Mubarak's regime left around 840 protesters dead and more than 6,000 injured.
Saleh promised that "the police has changed after the revolution," adding that the police has lost around 165 of its members since January 2011.
Nevertheless, a recent report published by the Cairo-based Nadim Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture recorded 34 cases of death, 88 cases of torture, and seven cases of sexual assault at the hands of the Egyptian police during President Mohamed Morsi's first 100 days in office.
CAIRO February 12, 2013 (AP)
Hundreds of Egypt's low-ranking policemen staged protests on Tuesday demanding they not be used as a tool for political oppression in the country's ongoing turmoil.
Dozens of policemen rallied outside local security administration headquarters in at least 10 provinces. Some of them carried signs reading, "we are innocent of the blood of the martyrs."
Although small, the protests marked a rare instance of dissent by Egypt's police force. The rallies reflect fears among many policemen of a public backlash after weeks of violent crackdowns on anti-government protests.
AP
Egyptian protesters throw stones while security police open water cannons on them from inside the grounds of the presidential palace during a demonstration in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. Security forces sprayed protesters with water hoses and tear gas outside the presidential palace Monday as Egyptians marked the second anniversary of autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s ouster with angry demonstrations against his elected successor.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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Rights activists allege that police have used excessive force against the latest wave of protests that started on the eve of the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak.
In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, policemen gathered outside security headquarters shouting: "Down with the interior minister." They also chanted: "No to the Brotherhood takeover of the interior ministry," alleging that the country's largest Islamic group, The Muslim Brotherhood, is packing state institutions with its members. Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was a longtime member of the group.
The protests come as the Shura Council, the country's Islamist-dominated interim parliament, is debating a new law to regulate demonstrations and require protesters to get permission from the ministry of interior to hold their protest.
The protesters said that they are against laws that would make them responsible for permitting or preventing protests and which would eventually put them in confrontation with protesters.