Model police stations fail to curtail crime rate

LAHORE:

During the last five years, under the Special Initiative Police Station (SIPS) initiative, more than Rs3 billion have been spent on the upgradation of around 760 police stations across Punjab. However, the irony is that even with welcoming police stations, the unwelcoming demeanour of the police is enough to delay justice to those wronged.

“I had hired two interior designers for the furnishing of my house. However, they swindled lakhs of rupees from me through fraud. I approached the police, but despite the passage of three months, a case has not been registered,” shared Rana Mahmoodul Hasan, a resident of Faisal Town.
On the other hand, Fayyaz Ahmed, a resident of Harbanspura, shared his struggle to retrieve his motorcycle, which was stolen two months ago. “I reported the incident to Madadgar 15, but a case of theft has still not been registered,” riled Ahmed.

Similarly, Zeeshan Ahmed Shani, a resident of Gulberg, revealed that it has been three years since his motorcycle was stolen. “The investigating officer calls every fortnight and takes money only to give consolation,” lamented Shani.

“Dozens of applications for the registration of cases are received in the Sessions Court on a daily basis, on which orders are issued by the court to register a case. However, the police are reluctant to register an FIR even on court orders,” confirmed Abdullah Malik, a legal expert.

According to Former IG Punjab Police Haji Habibur Rahman, in order to bring about a change in the functioning of the police, there is a need to conduct courses for police employees for image building and capacity building. "Supervisory officers should be appointed at the police station level for daily briefing in order to improve the police’s ability to deal with the public. If the police are friendly, the problems of people will be better addressed, and the crime rate can be managed. There is no doubt that the crime rate has increased due to the imbalance of resources in the society. However, attributing the increase solely to the poor performance of the police is unfair,” said Rahman.

According to data obtained by the Express Tribune, the crime rate in Punjab has observed a steady increase of nearly 33 per cent from 2016 to 2023, when the highest number of crime incidents were reported, with around one million FIRs registered. Furthermore, up until June 2024, more than 235,000 cases have been filed, which is 15 per cent more than last year. During the same time period, a 144 per cent increase was reported in cases of street crime, a 123 per cent rise in cases of robbery, a 71 per cent rise in cases of motorcycle and car theft and a 54 per cent increase in incidents of gang rape.
This is despite the fact that so far 84 police stations in Lahore apart from at least 15 others from across Punjab have been upgraded with a computerized FIR system, sofas, air conditioned halls, filtered drinking water, and a state-of-the art waiting room to improve the overall experience of citizens filing a complaint.

“Basically, efforts are needed to improve the behaviour of the police. There is a need to conduct lectures on a monthly basis for police employees. In these lectures, the police officers should be briefed on good manners and public dealing. The IQ level of the police personnel also needs to be examined to see how much endurance they have,” opined Prof. Dr Shehzad Tahir, a psychologist.

Speaking to the Express Tribune on the matter, Former IG Railways, National Highway and Motorway and Punjab Police Ahmed Naseem said, “Before changing the attitude of the police, there is a need for a change in the attitude of the public. Intolerance creates distance between the police and the public. In spite of this, there is a need to start training sessions for reforming the police.”