Institutionalising the K-P police reforms

The Strategic Framework for police developed in 2014 reaffirms the need to promote a society free from fear of crime

The Strategic Framework for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police developed in 2014 reaffirms the need to promote a society free from fear of crime and injustice. The framework recognises that winning public trust through better service delivery can be achieved by investing in three pillars: building the capacity, structural reforms and enhanced community engagement. The framework has helped the police in the last four years to introduce some structural and systematic reforms, such as, establishment of six new specialised schools, counterterrorism department, cellular forensics cell, bomb disposal unit and an internal command access lines. In accordance with the commitment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2013 to institutionalise police force to protect the life, property and honour of the citizens, new laws were also introduced, police policy board and directorate of police complaints and internal accountability constituted, and safety commissions established at the district, divisional, and provincial level to have check and balance over the performance of police force.

Over time since 2014, promising steps have been taken and observed in K-P police to build better image and gain the trust of citizens. However, it is pertinent to mention that institutionalisation is a lengthy process which requires the institutions to translate policies, plans and core values into actions to deliver for the betterment of citizens especially the vulnerable, including women, children, persons with disabilities and minorities. Ironically those were the commendable steps, but to gain public confidence in police, it is now high time for the K-P government to critically review the performance, develop broader monitoring and measurement framework with quantitative and qualitative indicators in order to pave a road map towards the institutionalisation of this important institution. At present, a narrow set of quantitative performance metrics has been developed to showcase the number of specialised schools, departments, units and access lines in order to celebrate the reforms carried out by the provincial government. However, what will be vital for the general public is to see the qualitative achievements such as reduction in the number of crimes in the province as a performance metrics.

To translate the institutional structures, plans, and core values developed through the strategic framework into actions, the present government needs to initiate the processes of thinking and designing service delivery oriented benchmarks for police to gain larger public trust in the 2018 general elections. It is therefore necessary for the current government to review the strategic framework, set targets for functional outputs and processes based goals as an agenda for their election manifesto in the next five years. To set targets, it is appropriate to conduct citizens’ satisfaction surveys on the existing service delivery mechanism of police and carry out consultations with citizens at the districts level with clear timelines to promote their buy-in and confidence. This will help to conceive police as according to Goldstein’s framework as an agency of community and district governments that share the broad responsibility for strengthening the quality of citizen’s life.

There is a good reason to pay special attention to this because in the PTI government a larger investment from the public exchequer was carried out in police reforms. If the results are not delivered up to the satisfaction of tax payers, it will further erode public confidence in police and particularly on the performance of current government. The purpose here is not to undermine the achievements of K-P police in the last four years, but delivery of services is important for gaining public confidence. The objectives of police reforms in K-P should be materialised and widely trickle-down to the general public to promote a society free from fear of crime and injustice.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2018.

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