KARACHI:
The sudden increase in street crimes and robberies across Karachi has raised fear amongst citizens. The criminals have turned ruthless in snatching mobiles and other valuables as they kill or injure citizens over slight resistance. Last Thursday, a man was shot dead over resistance during a mobile snatching incident. Unfortunately, Karachi Police have failed to control the crime because they have no real means or approach to address the problem.
Traditional policing is not enough to control such crimes effectively. In this old style of policing, the police adhere to a zero-tolerance policy toward crime through extreme measures and to human intelligence through informers that are mostly criminals to reduce the crime rate. But, in this style, the police have to compromise on human rights and certain people and types of crimes for the sake of getting information on serious crimes. This approach is also time-consuming.
Therefore, the police must adopt modern policing methods to reduce the crime rate. They must utilise information technology to improve surveillance and gather and record data on criminals. The Sindh government recently initiated the Safe City Project, which is crucial for improving surveillance. CCTV cameras should be installed to monitor different areas and relevant authorities must ensure that the cameras are always operating. The police should also engage in predictive policing as it can help them analyse the likelihood of future crimes in hotspots. Through this, they can strategise and plan accordingly and increase patrolling and take other measures to catch criminals. These methods can bring a significant change in reducing the crime rate in Karachi. However, for a long-term and permanent solution, the federal and provincial governments need to implement socio-economic reforms to reduce poverty, illiteracy, inequality, unemployment, and inflation because these are the main drivers of crime in any society.
Abbass Raza
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2022.
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