A city that is learning to protect its people

“Hi, Johny!”

“Hello, Shairy!”

“Is everything ok?” I was surprised to get a sudden call from this close friend, so I anxiously asked again, “Is everything ok?”

“Yup,” he replied. “Now I’ve decided to move to your city,” Johny disclosed calmly. Random thoughts started gathering in my mind when he again broke the short silence and said, “Boy” — his sign of closeness with me — “I’m not kidding; now your city [Lahore] is safer than mine.”

Johny kept breaking news back and forth to me, and all I could reply was, “What?”

“Yup, boy, I know you probably think that I’m kidding with you, but trust me, I’ve decided this after some deep thought, and I’ve finally made up my mind about moving to your city.”

His seriousness surprised me even more. I had suggested this several times during our decade-long friendship, but he always came up with lame excuses and never wanted to leave New York.

“Come on, man, how could New York be safer than Lahore?” — that was my quite natural stance.

“Hmmm… I’m not saying better; I said safer,” Johny emphasised. “And I believe that if it’s safer, then obviously it’s better,” he replied.

Before I could ask anything else, he said, “Boy, check your WhatsApp. I’ve sent you a link — and it’s not me claiming this; it’s an international crime index website sharing the data.”

Meanwhile, I found his message and opened the link:  https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_current.jsp. It took me a while to understand the website. Initially, I thought the city ranked number one meant the safest city — which was Pietermaritzburg (South Africa). But when I saw its latest crime ratio (82.8) and safety index (17.2), I couldn’t quite comprehend.

Johny shouted, “Hello, boy, are you surprised?”

I said, “I couldn’t find Lahore, and how could a South African city be number 1?”

He interrupted me, saying, “Stop, stop right here — number 1 means the worst!” He started to laugh, and soon we were both laughing. “Check the safety index only,” he said.

Then I found Lahore at number 130 out of 394 cities, with a safety index of 63.0 and a crime index of 36.8.

“Oh wow, that’s interesting!” I felt so proud being a Lahorite and said, “Welcome to Lahore, my brother.” I invited him, and he said, “Yes, yes, I will soon join you for some Lahori kababs.”

After saying goodbye to him, I started exploring the data on this website and felt happy to find out that Johny was right. The index showed that out of 88 cities in Asia, Lahore ranked 43rd, which is a big achievement.

But how did it happen? This question kept hitting my mind, and the only solution I could think of was to check with the Lahore Police. I initially planned to get the details over the phone, but through a common friend, Salman Malik, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Operations Lahore Police, Mr. Faisal Kamran, invited me to witness everything myself — which I found quite interesting.

On the given day and time, I reached his office, where the security cops told me that the historical Lahore Police Operations Headquarters had now been converted into the office of the City Traffic Police, and the DIG Operations was now sitting in his new office, a few hundred yards away, almost in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

The DIG’s personal staff officer welcomed me and gave me a tour of the office. To my utter surprise, what was once a dilapidated building of the Lower Mall Police Station was now a beautiful, state-of-the-art building.

Meanwhile, a young, smart, handsome, tall officer entered the building, introduced himself as Faisal, and offered me to join him in his boardroom. After a short introduction, he started showing me slides — adding more surprises: a digital Lahore Police! Impossible! That can’t be true!

Slides with data, live graphs of crime comparisons — I thought, “Is this actually Lahore Police?” DIG Faisal noticed my astonished expression and said, “Brother, I’m not claiming that everything is perfect in Lahore Police, but believe me, it’s on the right track.”

“Hmmm,” I mumbled.

“When I joined in the third week of April 2024, almost one and a half years ago,” he continued, “I made up my mind that either I would change the direction of Lahore Police or leave the Operations Wing command. Now I’m grateful to the Chief Minister and Inspector General of Police, who not only trusted me but also gave me a free hand to make this city ‘crime-free’ at any cost,” Faisal said enthusiastically.

“Brother Shiraz,” he added, trying to grab my full attention, “can you believe that we tracked and managed 11,298 events, rallies, activities, sit-ins, celebrations, and sports events in the city during my tenure?”

I was shocked. “I never heard of such in-depth data. 11,298? How do you have that record? How could you do that?”

My surprised reaction made him more energetic. Switching from calling me brother to sir, he said, “Yes, Sir! 1,016 law and order situations, including 667 protests, 94 sit-ins, and 555 rallies.”

Now I was even more confused, thinking, “What? How? When? Where? Why? Did all this really happen in Lahore?”

Unbelievable!

Then he added, “Yes, Sir, in fact, I have details of how many times the President, Prime Minister, dignitaries, and foreigners visited Lahore.”

I silently praised him in my heart, but being a journalist, I controlled my emotions and pretended to act normal. “Hmm, it’s nothing big, man, let’s move on,” I said casually.

“Okay, Mr. Faisal,” I continued, “can you please come to the main point — how did Lahore become the safest city, even safer than New York?” I was trying to impress him while hiding the fact that it was actually Johny’s revelation that brought me here.

Smiling, the uniformed DIG said, “Yes, that’s true. And it’s not me or anyone from Pakistan claiming this. It’s an international organisation working on crime and safer cities. They have their own independent data collection and compilation mechanisms; they don’t depend on us.”

Now in clarification mode, Faisal proudly added, “It’s not only safer than New York, but also safer than Auckland, London, Mumbai, and Paris.”

“Wow!” That word unintentionally escaped from my mouth.

“Next slide, please,” the DIG directed his staffer, who switched to a graph showing crime rates dipping down.

Faisal explained, “This graph starts from the time I assumed charge until today, and the data proves that crime is continuously decreasing. Our digital policing is the main reason,” he added.

“What do you mean by digital policing?” I asked abruptly.

Smiling, Faisal replied, “I was expecting this question.”

He explained, “Through the Managing Director of Safe City Authority, Ahsan Younis, Punjab Police has developed several apps that not only help us track criminals but, with the help of AI, also identify crime hotspots, emerging crime trends, and predict possible future incidents.

These apps evaluate real-time data and provide round-the-clock city monitoring through cameras and vehicle tracking systems.”

The DIG then took me to the Operational and Monitoring Room and showed how his staff was working there to curb crime.
Mr. Faisal also admitted that he cannot completely end corruption in the police department, but now the accountability level within the force is much stronger. Whoever is involved in any crime or bribery case is booked under police orders and put behind bars.

He also mentioned that the system of punishment and reward has been implemented properly. Those performing extraordinarily are rewarded with cash prizes and certificates.

Coming back to crime statistics, Mr. Faisal Kamran claimed that since he assumed charge in April 2024, there has been a 48 percent decrease in 15 emergency calls. For instance, in August 2024, there were around 6,000 calls, which have now been reduced to 3,400.

There has been a 64 percent decrease in dacoities, 64 percent in snatching, 34 percent in motorcycle theft, and 54 percent in vehicle theft, the DIG concluded.
Later that night, I sent Johny a message: “You were right, boy. Lahore really is safer than New York.”

His reply came instantly — a voice note full of laughter and a single line: “Told you so, brother. Now get the kebabs ready.”

All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer. The writer is a broadcast journalist.