Police unhappy with recruitment proposal

Say this might discourage officers already awaiting promotions.

LAHORE:

The Police Department has serious reservations over a proposal for directly hiring inspectors. Senior police officials worry that this would create a sense of deprivation among officers anticipating promotions. They have instead suggested that the government consider recruiting sub inspector to overcome the manpower shortage, sources in the Police Department said.

The Punjab government had proposed to the Punjab Police in August 2011 to consider direct induction of deputy superintendents of police (DSP) and inspectors to improve the force’s performance and image. Later, the government backed on its proposal of direct induction of DSPs, The Express Tribune learnt.  However, the police officers have majorly opposed the suggestion.

Executive Board meetings in this regard were held at the Police Headquarters from Saturday to Tuesday.

Seeking anonymity, a police official told The Express Tribune that Saturday’s meeting continued for five hours. It was followed by a four-hour meeting on Sunday and a two-and-a-half-hour meeting on Monday. He said the meetings were attended by Inspector General of Police (IG) Javed Iqbal, Capital City Police Officer Ahmad Raza Tahir, several additional IGs, and all nine regional police officers.

In the Tuesday’s meeting, he said, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had expressed his resolve to improve the thana culture through the direct induction of Inspectors. The chief minister said that 292 inspectors were recruited directly through the Punjab Public Service Commission in 1998 and had yielded positive results.

The meetings had a one-point agenda: the possibility of direct induction of some 600 to 700 inspectors and DSPs, which, the police official seeking anonymity added, was opposed by most officers.

He said most of the participants were of the view that direct induction was not practical. They said this might cause misunderstandings among the incumbent officers and the new recruits leading to hostility.

However, a senior police officer told The Tribune that the department was in no hurry to make a decision on the proposal. He said that the meetings were held to discuss various aspects of the proposal.

He admitted that most police officers had questioned its practicality and warned of adverse consequences. Implementing such a plan would also require amendments to the Police Order 2002.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told The Tribune that the Punjab government was adamant in improving the police department which, he said, also required induction of fresh officers for the portfolio of station house officers (SHOs).

He said that the current SHOs had failed to change the orthodox culture. However, he said, the police was only given a proposal to consider direct induction of inspectors and sub inspectors.

He said the police proposal would be considered, however, the ultimate decision in this regard rested with the provincial government.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2011.