Police protection for VIPs
IT appears that the police are being kept rather busy these days. That is because of the security they must provide to VIPs, which in a general manner of speaking is quite normal. But why one should be writing about it has to do with a couple of issues here. The first is that the number of policemen needed to ensure law and order or prevent crime is by itself inadequate. And the second is that compared to the security provided to members of earlier (and elected) governments, protection measures have doubled for those who are in the present caretaker administration. Why such a leap has occurred has not been explained. But what does become clear is that the situation has put immense pressure on the police, hamstrung as it is by its limited resources.
By far the biggest problem arising out of this need to ensure such massive security for VIPs is that the very real task of the police department is ignored in the process. One cannot blame the department here, for it is compelled to work under certain severe constraints such as the matter we are speaking of now. But the point here is that if so many policemen are deployed for the protection of VIPs, a gaping hole is left where ensuring security for citizens is concerned. The crimes that have occurred during the just-ended Eid vacations are a pointer to the matter. As many as eight individuals were murdered in the capital city alone during the holidays. As for the rural interior and other towns and cities, reports are yet to come in. Now, compounding the problem for the police is that while ensuring security for VIPs they must also arrange pick-up trucks for their men to accompany the VIPs. Sometimes this is done through a requisitioning of privately owned vehicles. Normally, it is the job of the departments over which such VIPs preside to supply these vehicles. That is not done.
All said and done, the priorities of the police must not be ignored. Indeed, the police must be well-equipped and free to carry out their professional responsibilities, which essentially relate to curbing and handling crime and managing traffic. If they are diverted or taken away from such work, it is citizens who are left feeling insecure.
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