Law and order: New station house officers ‘ruined by security duty’

SPs say crime rate up as inspectors taking too long to settle into their new assignments as heads of police stations.

LAHORE:

The crime rate has increased since some 50 inspectors were appointed as station house officers in Lahore, because they are used to simple security duties and have yet to establish full control over their new offices, said senior police officials.

The new SHOs were brought in three weeks ago to replace sub inspectors who had been serving as SHOs in violation of guidelines in the Police Order 2002 stating that SHOs must have at least the rank of inspector.

However, since then, several superintendents of police (SPs) have expressed concern about the appointments to the Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, sources told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The SPs asked him to advise Capital City Police Officer Ahmad Raza Tahir to take up the matter with Inspector General of Punjab Police Javed Iqbal, who had pushed for the implementation of the Police Order 2002 guidelines.

“We were better controlling crime in our areas when the sub inspectors were replaced,” said an SP. “They were real workhorses and had energy and passion for the job. These inspectors who have, willingly or unwillingly, remained on security duties for long periods are out of form.”

He said that the SHO’s job was to control crime and that was what the sub inspectors had been doing. “Crime in the city is getting out of control while these new SHOs are getting accustomed to their areas,” he added.

Another SP said though the new SHOs were struggling at the moment, he was hopeful that they would eventually get a grip on their assignments.

He agreed that the new SHOs were not as active as the old ones. “It will take them some time to settle in. Meanwhile this is also a test for the divisional SPs ... they should be able to work with any sort of team,” he said.

An inspector serving as SHO said that SPs were putting pressure on them to perform, warning that they would be replaced if they didn’t improve quickly. He said that this was unfair and the new SHOs needed time.

“There is no Aladdin’s lamp that can fix crime overnight. The SPs have been against the policy from the beginning. They just want yes men as SHOs.”

He said that the SPs’ “real issue” was that they could not directly punish inspectors. He said that he had learnt that in ten days, some sub inspectors would be appointed as additional SHOs, which he felt was against the IG’s orders.

Other inspectors said that earlier, many inspectors were posted as investigation officers, and they had had to seek authorisation from sub inspectors who were serving as SHOs to sign challans. “Under this new system the appropriate ranks are given to the appropriate positions,” said an inspector.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2011.