How police reform can work

POLICE is an armed branch of the government, and the forces are mostly accommodated in barracks. They perform duties nowadays, as a rule, with automatic weapons, and have easy access to the armoury. It is necessary, therefore, to keep a constant and vigilant eye on them to ward-off an inevitable privation or development of idiosyncratic tendencies.
Senior officers should remain present in the police lines for long hours and should be able to feel the pulse of the forces and specially be able to detect and collect advance information on the fomentation of any possible discontent, unusual behaviour or movement or assembly on the part of the forces which may lead to a breach of discipline.
The malcontents should be spotted and be given proper hearings. The officers among them should regularly participate with the forces in borokhana, games, namaz, milads, and be with them on Eid and other festive occasions. The commanders should also fill the men's idle hours with different games, sports, cultural events, and in various other leisure time activities.
The police high command should make efforts to draw attention of the government on the urgent need for placing adequate development funds for improving the physical infrastructure in different police lines. The run down, dilapidated thana buildings, quarters, parade grounds, marching lanes, police hospitals, mosques, and barracks across the country need immediate reconstructions.
Money should be provided for undertaking urgent repair works of the forces' canteens, ration/departmental stores, and durbar halls. Enhanced budgetary allocation is also required to purchase better quality food, clothing, transport, armaments and recreational equipments for the entire police force.
Police is an important functionary of the state and its role is vital in the control of crime and in the maintenance of law and order. As a government agency, however, the police is still guided by age old rules and regulations and is urgently in need of reforms.
Any suggestion for structural change in police, however, always seems to invite sharp reaction from other services, thereby thwarting all advancement in this direction. This is unfortunate because all the police demand is a recast of the past and a new shape to fit in to the present and future.
The police, thus, is, unfortunately, incurring displeasure of others without actually courting it. A more friendly approach on everyone's part would definitely remove many misgivings and misunderstandings and bring about a healthy atmosphere for work and change.
In Bangladesh, reforms and modernisation as a means of administrative convenience have divided districts into upazilas and have separated judiciary from the executive. The police reform program or the PRP as a part of these momentous changes was taken up as a project under UNDP assistance and is a formal and welcome undertaking of what was already in progress. But the draft proposals for modernising the police suffered a set back as the then caretaker administration showed only lukewarm interest and dragged its feet in giving approval.
The government's other apparent pre-occupations pushed the police issue backstage and the matter lost its urgency. Hopes of an early implementation were, therefore, dashed as the subject matter was not discussed even in a single cabinet meeting.
It is hoped that the presently elected popular government would provide to the police what is legitimately and logically theirs. A lively debate in the meantime has been ensuing in all types of media, with most civil society members favouring an early and outright implementation of the PRP. A broad view discussion on the matter was welcome and necessary because a nationally important issue like police reform had better not be left only for a few professionals to decide.
The British in India were a colonial power and had set up an administration, including the police, to suit their imperial interest. With their departure and with the establishment of a free country, rules and regulations ought to have changed to fulfill the desire and aspirations of a free society.
No attempts were made, through the years, however, to alter the rules by rewriting the books for a society no longer under bondage. But as with any free society, a dynamism from within would gradually push all rules brought forward from a colonial past to change with time, irrespective of whatever remains codified in the books written to suit a foreign Raj.
Police is an integral part of the government, and the personnel should be given rank and status commensurate with their responsibilities. The force today has a sizeable manpower, an educated officer corps, and modern arms. It would be wrong and improper to let them suffer from any sense of inadequacy or paucity of fund. They need pride in their performance, a sense of direction, and proper leadership which they expect to come from their own chain of command rather than from outside.
All reform programs in police should aim at making the society free from crime and disorder, and should begin from the police stations. The simple rural folk of our country avoid police stations or thanas as a place of coercion and intimidation where suspects and detainees are often roughed up and even have died through torture and beatings.
It should be an important part of the reform to address this dismal state of affairs and assure the people that the police is there as friends to help and not to harm. In order to establish a non-colonial administration a non-colonial mentality is required. More and more model thanas with quality investigation work ending in strong prosecutions should be developed all throughout the country. Only then a people's police with people's support can truly be set up.

Moinuddin Chisti is a former Additional IGP and a columnist.