MQM-P suggests community-friendly policing to curb street crime

Post local SHOs in liaison with neighbourhood committees, suggests IT Minister Aminul Haq

KARACHI:

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) senior leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq has said that the only solution to curb street crime and unrest in Karachi is to post a local as the station house officer (SHO).

Complete details of his assets should be compiled before his appointment. The MQM leader said an intelligence network and special branch police should be activated. “A system of effective liaison with the police station should be devised to keep an eye on criminal elements in the area through neighbourhood committees,” Haq said.

“Ensure the accuracy of officially installed cameras and CCTV should be placed by residents at least at every street entry and exit,” he added. In a statement issued on Monday, the federal minister said that despite the alarming rise in crime in the city, neither the IGP nor the Sindh chief minister, who is also the home minister, has convened a meeting on law and order. “No action plan has been formulated.

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“This is clear evidence of their detachment from the city and its citizens. The issue is being turned right and left only through media statements. When something happens, it echoes for a few days only and then there is silence again. In such cases, immediate action is essential,” the MQM leader said.

He said that non-local police officers are not fully aware of the area nor do they have any interest in the collective interests of their area or city. In such a scenario, prevention of crime is not possible.

The MQM leader went on to say that Karachi has more than 100 police stations and each police station has an average population of at least 300,000 to 400,000. “In such a large population, can't a police officer from the same area be deployed?” he questioned.

According to Haq, the resident police officer of the area can effectively monitor the activities of criminal elements and complete information of the area through mohallah committees. He suggested special branches and intelligence networks can be helpful in providing important information about the locality.

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Similarly, a police officer should be appointed for at least three years so that he can understand the area and take necessary steps to prevent crime. In the area or police station where the graph of incidents increases, the officer should be punished by dismissal.”

The number of personnel and vehicles in the police stations should be adequate and their records should also be checked on a quarterly basis, the minister suggested. He said if such measures were not taken immediately, the city, which generates revenue for the country, would be completely paralysed.