A.m.ahad/ Drik News

POLICE activities, or to say more technically, modus operandi, remain shrouded as ever in an eerie mist of ambiguity in Bangladesh. Before going into details in support of the above statement let us have a look at what Internet has to say about modus operandi:
"Modus operandi (plural modi operandorum) is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as 'method of operating.' The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning. It is often used in police work when discussing a crime and addressing the methods employed by the perpetrators. It is also used in criminal profiling, where it can help in finding clues to the offender's psychology. It largely consists of examining the actions used by the individual(s) to execute the crime, prevent its detection and/or facilitate escape. This can then be used to aid in the eventual apprehension of the suspect(s)."
Well, there are all the professional angles in the above definition, as one would expect. As far as our knowledge goes, in the modern world, the above procedures and steps are strictly followed professionally by the members of the police force and that is why getting away after committing a crime, small or big, is so difficult there. A highly efficient, transparent and accountable system of policing has been developed in the developed countries with the strong backing of the constitution, as a result, political people or bureaucrats find it extremely difficult to influence a criminal investigation.
Now, a few words about our police force and the manner in which the force operates in maintaining law and order in the country. Despite some good work done once in a while, it has yet to earn name and fame as a disciplined, hard-working, honest and effective force. The phenomenal increase in crime and criminality across the country is testament to the failure of the police force in being effective, either because of deep-rooted corruption or lack of motivation. It is being said with a dash of sarcasm that instead of striking fear in the hearts of the criminals, policemen try to strike a deal with them.
This is not an off-the-cuff remark, not really. This writer has nothing against the police force in general to inspire him to paint a sordid picture. Ask any odd number of people on the street and they would agree with the above statement without a moment's hesitation. They will hardly have some good words for the police, and most of them will come up with first-hand stories of horrendous encounter with the police at some point in life.
They will tell you how innocent friends or relations suffered at the hands of the police. They will recall how even honest police officers failed to help the victims from the corrupt network of policemen who were hell-bent on extracting money from them, making threats of filing false cases. Those scars are deep enough, and they bleed anew when memories come back. Therefore, it needs no emphasising that there is widespread distrust, suspicion, misgivings and fear about the police in the minds of the common people. They seem to fear the police more than the real criminals do.
So much about efficiency, corruption and lack of motivation amongst the policemen in this country. What about their skill in conducting investigations and training in apprehending armed goons? Often we hear of armed robbers robbing people in broad daylight on the streets, with a couple of policemen with shotguns standing nearby doing nothing. They would not even chase the robbers once the crime had been committed. Sometimes policemen or even police officers cannot match the speed, skill and ferocity of the armed criminals and become victims themselves.
In this country, on a number of occasions, police constables and even police officers got stabbed or shot by criminals when the former tried to grab them with their hands. As far as our knowledge goes, this is against the rule. In no country of the world do policemen do that. If one would watch police videos on TV or read some of the training manuals then it would become quite clear that policemen or police officers draw their gun or keep their hands on the butt of the service pistol while approaching criminals, armed or not.
Let us take the murder of the police officer named Goutam. He did not draw his service pistol before approaching some suspects in the middle of the night in a crime-infested area of the old part of the city. He went too close to frisk them. His assailants saw the opportunity and shot him from a close range. Did Goutam forget about the rule? Many more questions surrounding the murder of this officer crowd our minds. We wonder when the mystery will be solved.
Handguns are now being used rampantly by the criminals to kill and maim. Thousands of small weapons are finding their way into the heart of the metropolitan city. Hardly do we hear of regular haul of such arms in the borders by the BDR or the police. In the past, block-raids by joint forces in certain localities brought good results. Many thugs and a good number of small weapons have been recovered in the process. Similar actions in criminal-infested areas could give satisfactory results.
Over and above, the laws and the legal system have to be made more efficient and up-to-date if we want to see the police force working efficiently. Having good laws is not good enough. There has to be political will as well. We need to go for strict and exemplary punishment. At the same time, we have to take into account the burgeoning population and the unemployment issues. Unless we increase the number of policemen and train and equip them better, we shall find walking the roads in the near future, even in broad daylight, a dangerous proposition.
Shahnoor Wahid is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star. He can be contacted at shahnoorwahid @yahoo.co.uk