Police reforms: a far cry

Introduction of police reforms may ignore fundamental issues that have created problems for police department

LAHORE: The need to introduce police reforms is being realised at the optimum level and steps are being taken for it. However, the introduction of police reforms may ignore some of the most fundamental issues that have created problems for the police department.

Recently, Chief Justice of Pakistan visited Central Police Office, Lahore after chairing a police reforms committee meeting. The meeting was attended by judges, serving inspector generals (IG) of different provinces as well as IGs of Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit-Baltistan.

It is encouraging that the apex court is overseeing the reforms process. The issues taken and addressed so far by the reforms committee, as well as other initiatives so far, have not substantially addressed the key issues faced by police officials and the public.

The police department of the country has been inherited by the previous British system. The fundamental organisational structure has not been amended. Due to the current organisational structure, low ranking officials and officers are kept out of key policymaking and decision formulations.

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Police Service of Pakistan officers (PSP), the bureaucracy of police, not only enjoys the privilege of policymaking and decision making but also complete impunity. This privilege is the fundamental hangover in the process of accountability that results in a lack of transparency in the department.

Another issue is that the bureaucracy disproportionately receives most resources of the police department. The department of police already lacks basic infrastructure and facilities. The police reforms initiatives so far have yet to realise that these issues are fundamental problems that require substantial steps to counter the lack of resources. It is unrealistic to expect an investigation officer to be professionally competent as well as humane, who is compelled to ask the father of a deceased boy, to arrange a vehicle himself in order to shift the body to a morgue for autopsy.

There is a need to allocate sufficient resources to update and modernise the police department. Another important aspect is the legislation and rules governing the department as well as the criminal justice procedure. These rules and procedures are outdated and also need to be part of police reforms.

Pedophile tracking system

The introduction of a pedophile tracking system is a very encouraging move, said Lahore Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Operations Ashfaq Ahmad Khan.

So far, the conventional approach towards the motives behind the crime has been categorised as either violence against women, domestic dispute on money or property.

Our police departments have not been able to internalise the phenomenon of criminals often deemed as psychopaths. Persons who have severe mental illnesses often commit a crime for the sake of the crime and without any prior motive. It is important to assess how pedophiles can be identified and how they should be investigated. This is necessary to improve the investigation process as well as to improve crime-fighting techniques.

The DIG maintained that for introducing an effective pedophile tracking system, crimes involving more complex issues cannot be deterred simply by arresting the accused or by increasing patrolling. These crimes can be only be countered through proactive community policing mechanisms.

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The steps taken at the departmental level, backed by a legal cover, such as adding pedophiles into a ‘fourth schedule’ list will prove productive only if child sexual abuse is acknowledging as a serious crime by society and community efforts are made in the country to prevent said criminal acts.

Kite flying

The provincial government has banned kite flying for over a decade. Punjab police are also observing a zero-tolerance policy and consistently been conducting crackdowns against kite sellers as well as kite flyers.

However, the cases of kite-string incidents, which have resulted in many persons being killed or sustaining injuries, are yet to stop. Unfortunately, these incidents keep surfacing in the provincial capital.

The approach towards curbing kite-flying needs to be reviewed. Law enforcement is not the only solution. The crackdown against one-wheeling did not put an end to the wheeling practice either. The policymakers need to realise that such sports or entertainment activities cannot be fully eliminated when there are no alternative opportunities for entertainment-deprived youth.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2019.