Dolphin Squad adopts ‘search and stop’ method
The Dolphin Squad has introduced a new search and stop method – a hybrid of patrolling and picketing techniques.
The new standard operating procedure (SOP) of the “elite” wing of Lahore Operations Police forbids the officials from setting up pickets (coming into a static position) and asks them to remain permanently “moving” during duty.
“They can stop only to search a suspicious person or an activity,” the SOP reads.
“The ‘improvised’ method has been produced out of a conflict between the pressure of the high-ups to stick to the Dolphin Squad’s core function, patrolling to improve 15 call response, and the heavy bikes and the officials necessity to take rest during eight hours shift,” an officer told The Express Tribune.
Sharing about the background of the evolution of the method the officer said that over 250 teams of the Dolphin Squad responsible for covering a population of over 120 million of Lahore stretched over hundreds of square kilometers are grilled for any delay in police response.
“They have been striving very hard to maintain an average response time of seven minutes,” he said.
The pressure has mounted even further after the Minar-e-Pakistan mob harassment incident on the Independence Day. The prime minister and the Punjab government had expressed severe annoyance over delayed police 15 response calls despite repeated attempts by the aggrieved party.
Following the meetings of the government high-ups over the incident, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat was tasked with taking measures that could improve 15 response call even further with the help of the Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA). Rao Sardar Ali Khan was the then managing director of the PSCA. He had also chaired the inquiry committee to fix responsibility in the sad episode.
After taking up the charge of the IGP, Khan had laid further stress on the Dolphin Squad to focus on patrolling and avoid being static.
However, the heavy bikes under the use of the Dolphin Squad members needed a break after speeding on roads especially in harsh weather.
“So do the humans riding them,” said another officer.
“It is very difficult to handle the heavy bike on the roads like that of Lahore. Your back and limbs are exhausted after one or two hours of drive,” said a Dolphin rider.
He said, “We felt drenched in the summers when the temperature would rise up to 48-50 degrees Celsius. For a heavy biker at a traffic signal it must be 55-56 degrees Celsius.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2021.