Surprisingly, Karachi’s proposed anti-riot police unit is a lot leaner than what is expected of an effective force. It is also an appreciably smaller fraction of the combined police force — barely 1,300 out of 26,647 personnel deployed in the metropolis. Given that 14,00 policemen are already part of the regular force looking after law and order in the city, they could perhaps be incorporated into the anti-riot squad if and when required but only after undergoing a spot of rigorous training. More than their routine riot-gear, policemen deployed in the unit are expected to have skill as well as patience. Equally useful is the right approach to risk management. Unless members of the unit are prepared for the kind of contingency they are likely to be confronted with, they won’t be effective. The squad should have a few trained trouble-shooters in the ranks — officers who can need to use their wits more than their lethal weapons to convince the crowd to not disturb the peace or damage public property.
Since there is a danger of forceful crowd control measures backfiring or anti-riot officers going overboard and using too much force on rioters or protesters, policemen are uncertain about their roles. This is fuelled largely by the disagreement between advocacy groups and rights activists over which form of riot control is less controversial and more safe. Any containment tactic should be used to head off trouble, not magnify it.
What separates a good anti-riot squad from a poor one is the ability to recognise the rioters from the protesters and tackle them accordingly.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2018.
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