Sindh police have repeatedly shown a lack of moral responsibility towards obeying the law when it comes to themselves
KARACHI: A police water cannon has become a permanent nuisance in front of the offices and travel agency on Strachen Road in Karachi. Policemen have parked it at an illegal parking zone and have refused to relocate it despite repeated requests of the businessmen and employees from the affected offices. This also leads to traffic congestion and motorists find an excuse to use the illegal space in front and behind the cannon to park their vehicle on both sides of the road. According to the police, the water cannon is parked in case an emergency situation arises at Karachi Press Club and there is need for riot control. A police station, which is located a few metres away, can accommodate the riot control vehicle in its grounds. This vehicle can be parked safely at the police station until it is time to use it.
The Sindh police have repeatedly shown a lack of moral responsibility towards obeying the law when it comes to themselves. Several police vehicles are unregistered and illegally used by the department. Several regular vehicles are seen bearing licence plates displaying ‘Sindh police’ or their licence numbers printed on the background of a police registration plate, showing them as police personnel.
Although intensive training workshops, programmes and capacity-building courses have been conducted for the police and the police trainers over the last few months, some members of the police force continue to misuse their power and position. This does much to put the police in a negative light.
However, this attitude is changing. In April 2014, I, along with the rest of the First Response Initiative of Pakistan team, trained a very enthusiastic group of 32 police instructors in dealing with emergencies and disasters as first responders. These policemen want to change their current performance and are ready to work hard to achieve excellence.
Putting and end to unnecessary transfers of senior police officers and curtailng political influence in appointments will increase their confidence and boost their morale as they have been increasingly demoralised.
Dr Jahanzeb Effendi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2014.
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