Police failure to embrace IT angers Punjab IGP

Reports sought about monitoring of front desks, SHOs’ presence

LAHORE:

Inspector General of Punjab Police Shoaib Dastgir is displeased with senior officers over their failure to own and adopt information technology interventions introduced for changing the policing culture.

While issuing directions to field officers to improve monitoring using IT, he censured them, remarking that the things would improve only after intervention from the Central Police Office (CPO).

He complained in a letter that the technology was not in place at the grassroots level. Dastgir asserted that the technology was of little use unless owned and monitored by the end users. He also questioned alleged manipulation of data by senior officers for false projection of their performance, hence damaging the whole process of changing the police station culture. The IGP said, “Interest taken by the field commanders is conspicuously represented in the form of no request received from them to rectify the malfunctions.”

He asked the officers to take into account improved use of CCTV cameras for ensuring polite behaviour with people visiting police stations, availability of station house officers (SHOs) during public complaints hours and the condition of lock-ups.

Punjab Police had established state of the art front desks for public complaints and deputed staff for the purpose. CCTV cameras were installed to monitor the process.

Public complaints hours were also specified in which SHOs had been bound to stay in their offices to listen to the visitors. CCTV cameras had also been installed to check if the SHOs complied with the policy.

To discourage torture and illegal detention, CCTV cameras were also installed in lock-ups.

The CPO had observed gaps in all the three aspects. It pointed out that the use of CCTV cameras for monitoring public dealing, availability of SHO for common people and checking torture and illegal detention were being compromised.

The IGP instructed the field officers to submit weekly reports about front desks, SHOs’ presence in offices and monitoring of lock-ups by different measures, including comparing the number of accused persons with the entries in the record. This is not the first time the top brass faced resistance in adoption of technology at the lower level.

A senior police officer said IT interventions, if fully implemented, would transform the accountability procedure and serve as a check on use of authority with impunity. However, IT literacy gaps served a barrier, he continued.

IGPs in the past have also faced similar issues. In November 2019, then IGP Arif Nawaz expressed displeasure over senior police officers’ approach towards an open door policy. He said officers were shying away from remaining available to the people.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2020.