Public safety commission comatose for two years

The Sindh Public Safety and Complaints Commission, a department launched to improve police performance, has ironically been out of service for quite some time. During its inactivity, it appears that the police have been left to operate without much accountability, in many cases putting public safety in jeopardy.

The nineteen-member commission was formed in 2019, and by law required to meet every month to deliberate on its aim of preventing the police from engaging in illegal activities. Upon deliberation, the commission was to then issue its recommendations to improve police performance. However, reports suggest that the accountability body has been consecutively defaulting its meetings, failing to convene even once during the last two years, while the only meetings known to have taken place have been in the initial months of the commission’s launch.

According to documentation, the commission was formed at the provincial level after the restoration of Police Order 2002. Under the said law, the commission was to be set up at the district level too but could not progress owing to various administrative and political issues. When probed regarding the matter, Pakistan People’s Party MPA Shamim Mumtaz, who is also a member of the provincial public safety commission, acknowledged the accountability body’s inactivity and said that the pause in their meetings was linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Per Mumtaz, meetings of the provincial commission were slated to resume following the reduction in coronavirus cases but the commission has still remained inactive for reasons unknown. “Considering the law and order situation in Karachi at the moment, it is imperative that the commission meet again. I have spoken to the chief minister in this regard and we are hopeful that the meetings will soon resume” asserted the PPP MPA.

On the other hand, however, a recent letter issued by the Sindh Police to the Home Department states that despite the legal requirement, the public safety commissions are yet to be activated at the district level. The Sindh Police had written the letter to the home department for approval of some 100 new posts of DSPs required for the SP Complaints Cell set up at the behest of the Supreme Court orders.

In response to the letter, the Sindh Home Department informed Sindh Police that 240 new posts have already been created for the police for setting up a public safety commission at the district level, which merited the police’s reminder to the home department highlighting that the commission is yet to be introduced at the district level. The police further stated in its correspondence that it still needs separate posts of DSPs for setting up an SP Public Complaints Cell.

The Express Tribune also contacted the Sindh Police AIG Haider Raza, to better understand the reasons behind the fate of the much-touted public safety commission. Per him, it is only the home department that can shed relevant light on the matter and offer reasons for the commission’s absence at the district level. “We have, however, called for the posts of DSPs to make the SP Public Complaints Cell more effective,” he reiterated while speaking to The Express Tribune.