Karachi on crime index

Does this performance warrant a rethink on part of Sindh govt seeking the police chief’s repatriation back to Centre?

Sindh’s top cop, who has of late fallen out of favour with his political bosses, has a cheery bit of news to prove his naysayers wrong. Karachi, under his watch, has improved in the global crime ranking. Sindh Inspector General of Police Syed Kaleem Imam noted gleefully that the improvement is attributable to better policing and stricter measures taken to fight crime. He was referring to the findings of a survey conducted by Numbeo.com, according to which Karachi has been ranked at 93 in the latest global crime ranking, improving its standing by five places since January 2020 and 22 places since mid-2019.

The website defines the ‘Crime Index’ as ‘an estimation of overall level of crime in a given city or a country’. ‘We consider crime levels lower than 20 as very low, crime levels between 20 and 40 as being low, crime levels between 40 and 60 as being moderate, crime levels between 60 and 80 as being high and finally crime levels higher than 80 as being very high,’ it says.

In January 2020, Karachi’s crime level stood at 55.20 and thus the city was ranked at 88. Currently, the metropolis stands at a ‘moderate’ crime level of 55.15 and has been ranked 93 among a total of 387 cities, denoting an improvement in the law and order situation.

Dr Imam was at pains to point out that the city stood at number six with a ‘very high’ crime level at one point in 2014. But since then, ‘the Sindh province and all its large cities, particularly Karachi, have witnessed an overall improvement in law and order and crimes of various types have visibly reduced,’ he says. Does this performance warrant a rethink on part of the Sindh govt seeking the police chief’s repatriation back to Centre?

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2020.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.