Up to the mark: IG orders written tests for SHOs, head constables

Officers should know the law and be able to maintain records.

KARACHI:

Station house officers and head constables have to be tested as no officer of these ranks should be posted to any police station without undergoing written and viva tests in the province.

Inspector General Sindh Wajid Ali Durani has told all regional heads and zonal deputy inspectors general to have this carried out. Also, SHOs must be at the rank of inspectors, and if they are serving as sub-inspectors, they must have at least five years of experience. Head constables should be assistant sub-inspectors or head constables.

Papers for the written test for the posts of SHOs would be sent by the IG’s office in Karachi to the district police officers across Sindh. Interviews of successful head constables would be conducted by a board respective district superintendents.

In reaction, Qambar Shahdadkot DPO Azfar Mahesar told The Express Tribune that this would be a useful exercise since it would ensure the postings of only those police officers who are abreast with all legal issues and know how to maintain records.

Much more work needs to be done, however, to improve the working of an officer at a police station. “First and foremost is the posting of officers on merit with the guarantee that they won’t be randomly posted by any influential,” he suggested.

Additionally, SHOs often complain that they don’t have the budget to run their police stations. A system of rewards and punishments could also be part of the current exercise. For example, if an officer clears the test, he should be assured that he won’t be posted out for at least three months. If the SHO’s performance improves in these three months, then another extension of three months should be awarded to him or he should be demoted and asked to sit the test again.

Durrani has set August 15 as the deadline for the written tests all over the province.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2011.