Practical policing: Patrolling policeman shot, injured

City police routinely violate SOPs in terms of number and formation of officials at pickets and on patrol.

LAHORE:

A Mujahid Squad official was shot and injured by two armed men he and his two colleagues were chasing near Lal Pul in Harbanspura on Sunday.

In the end the suspects riding a 70cc motorcycle escaped the policemen on two 125cc motorcycles.

Constable Filpus Masih was taken to Services Hospital where the doctors who examined him stated that he was in a critical condition.

The three officials were patrolling in violation of the formation prescribed in the standard operating procedures (SOP). The SOP for the Muhafiz and Tiger Squad patrols on motorcycles is to move in two pairs. These days, however, mostly two officials patrol on a motorcycle or two on one accompanied by another on a second motorcycle.

Harbanspura police station’s Inspector Rizwan Rafiq said that less than prescribed number of officials were being assigned field duties (patrolling, and guarding at pickets) because of the shortage of staff.

Sources said the City police are also not following the SOP with regards to the number and formation of officials deployed at pickets set up in the city for security purposes. Officials deployed at the pickets say that this exposes them to unnecessary risks.

Earlier, two constables performing duties at a picket on Tape Road (in Lower Mall precinct) were murdered by three unidentified men on March 20. According to eyewitness accounts, only one of the two constables was armed and the killers had conveniently walked away after the incident.

According to the prescribed procedure, there should be at least four constables and an assistant sub inspector (ASI) at a picket. Three of the four constables should be armed and provide cover to the fourth, assigned to full body search of the people stopped at these pickets.

At most pickets in Shadman, Allama Iqbal Town, Gulberg, Lower Mall and Qila Gujjar Singh, there are only two or three constables and no ASIs.

A police official said the violations made them more vulnerable to attacks. He said at most pickets there were only two officials, only one carrying a weapon. He said the formation approved in the SOPs was meant to provide adequate security cover to the other personnel. “The three armed constables cover the one assigned to carry out security checks. The ASI covers these three constables in case there is an attack,” he said.

An official assigned at one of these pickets said that on many occasions they would let people move past the picket unchecked because they did not want to put their lives in danger. “Stopping them will be no good. We’ll end up dead and they will still move on,” he said.

He said the recent killing of two constables at a Tape Road picket could have been avoided had the SOP been followed. At least, he said, the murderers would not have fled as conveniently as they did.

ASP Hassan Mushtaq Sukhera said the department was understaffed and had no option but to cut down on the number of officials assigned duties at the security pickets. He said that the priority was to ensure full strength at ‘sensitive’ places. “We deploy whatever officials we have on these pickets,” he said.

SSP (Operations) Faisal Rana said that he was not aware of any violations of SOPs. He said that the Lahore police had been advised to follow the SOPs and not expose the personnel to unnecessary risks.

The policemen assigned the duties said muharars at the police stations showed four officials assigned at every picket in their registers but actually sent only two.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th,  2011.