New IG’s enthusiasm keeps force on toes

Temuri energises rank and file with his busy schedule, interactions with personnel

ISLAMABAD: The capital’s new police chief Sultan Azam Temuri on Friday visited Ramna police station in G-11 to check routine police working and on-going work on a new reporting room.

The new reporting rooms being set up at Secretariat, Aabpara and Ramna police stations in first phase will have computerised FIRs [FIRs in Islamabad police stations are still hand-written] and will be linked to the Safe City cameras.

Temuri also took to pitch to bat as he inaugurated an inter-departmental police tournament on Friday.

While nearly every incoming IGP talks big on reforming the police, for many the task proves too much to ask for in the long run. Wide-spread corruption and cumbersome process to lodge complaints at the police station level are the real challenges for the new IGP, sources said.

According to police officials the new police chief has sprung his force into action with his resolve to implement people-friendly and corruption-free policing in the city. Newly-appointed Inspector General Islamabad Police Temuri has been busy in his interactions with his personnel as well as the public ever since he took charge of the capital police last week, they said.

The new inspector general has approved a specialised anti-riot unit and told the police stations to pull up their socks, officials said. With a stern warning to corrupt officials, Temuri has launched a new initiative through which the public and the police personnel will be just a text away from his office. He has named this new initiative “war against corruption”, urging the citizens to not be silent on any wrongdoing by the police. The mobile numbers to lodge complaints or feedback will be formally announced by the police next week.

A police volunteers’ programme has also been designed as a community-policing project.

Temuri, who was among the pioneers of the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), has also vowed to improve traffic policing in the capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2017.