Humanizing the Police Station
Crime control and maintenance of peace is primarily the responsibility of the State, at the very basic level the Police Station (Thana) fulfils this requirement. An ordinary citizen seeking redress of a grievances of a criminal, quasi-criminal or even civil nature has to go to this basic unit of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs). Traditionally the personnel of the PS uphold the rule of law in their area of jurisdiction by patrolling the area and inquiring into alleged misdemeanours. Information about those living in the area is extremely necessary, criminal records of known or likely criminals are maintained in the PS. The knowledge of radical groups, ethnic, religious, student activists, etc, is of vital importance.
The organization of today’s PS is still synchronized to imperial times, in effect to serve an autocratic ruler in the rural areas. Till late in the British rule only Calcutta, Madras and Bombay had Metropolitan Police, the rest of the towns and cities were under the cover of rural-oriented law enforcement practices. For Pakistan’s many cities and towns, the rural version of the 19th century continues to be in use, there is need for radical reform in keeping with the times. The ground realities resulting from escalation in the level and volume of crime have been totally ignored. To give one example, in 1902 the British laid down that each Police Station would get a “permanent advance” (petty cash as we know it) of Rs.10 which was then the equivalent of one tola of gold, how much does that Rs.10 purchase today? Other than the salaries of the police personnel PS, the Station House Officer (SHO) looks to manage affairs in the PS through “voluntary contributions” from the citizenry. Faced by the threat of constant shakedown, the citizens look at the PS as an “object (or house) of fear”, to be avoided at all costs.
The Muharrir, in effect an Assistant to the SHO, helps him to manage today’s PS. The organization worked very well when the manpower and crime of the PS was manageable, ie. 10 men to handle an average of 100 crimes a year. Today in major urban areas, the average manpower strength of the PS is about 150 men whereas the average annual crime rate is about 300. The population having increased many hundreds of times in many urban areas since 1900, it far exceeds the capability of the PS staff to handle crime. With organized crime, terrorism, ethnic tension, juvenile delinquency, etc thrown into the melting pot, it is a wonder that the existing structure has not broken down completely.
When a citizen builds up the courage to go to the PS to record his (or her) grievance, the Police officers on duty are not only reluctant to record the grievance but tend to treat the complainant as an accused. Their conduct being intimidating, it is almost impossible for women to take this risk! The law and the police rules necessitate logging of every information in the Station Diary (SD), which is today mostly in the hands of an unauthorized person, a constable, according to common prevalent practices. Before condemning the Police for being corrupt, inefficient and negligent of their duty, we have to be fair and acknowledge that the PS does not have (1) a proper organization and management (2) enough funds (3) proper information (4) proper mechanism for quick redress of grievances (5) citizen-police liaison to remove citizen’s distrust of the PS and its staff (6) availability of dispensation of justice at the basic level. Radical measures have to be taken at the grassroots level of social interaction to create trust in the minds of the citizens and thus take the first step in making the police effective at the grassroots level of the social structure. The PS needs to have an Operational Management Division headed by the SHO and a Human Resources Division headed by a Special Magistrate (housed in an Annexe to the PS). An Administrative Officer under the SHO must ensure administrative support to both the Divisions.
The Operational Management Division would be the original law enforcement team but reorganized on a more focussed basis to have an (1) Information Section (2) Criminal Investigation Section (3) Patrolling Section (4) Security Section (5) Crime Prevention Section and (6) Administration Section. The Human Resources Division would have a (1) Judiciary Section (2) Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) which will have four sub-sections, namely (a) Public Relations (b) Arbitration (c) Legal Aid (volunteers) (d) Medical Aid.
The Operational Management Division should be headed by a SHO whose rank should be not less than that of DSP. In the Army, a company of 150 men is commanded by a Major, his company officer is supposed to be a Captain. Important PS should invariably have Superintendents of Police (SP) as Heads. Duties should be shared by the (1) Information Section having computers with relevant information of all citizens living in the area (1) recording all complaints/grievances in the Station Diary (2) proper blown-up maps which can pinpoint every structure in the area (3) record of known and/or suspected criminals (4) forensic section with capability of finger prints, photos of scene of crime (5) record of ethnic, religious and radical elements, etc and (6) maintain liaison with adjacent PS, etc. The Criminal Investigation Section should be headed by an Inspector and have at least 9-10 teams, each headed by an SI/ASI, which will carry out duties with respect to (1) matters relating to crime (2) matters relating to criminals (3) back-up to the Beat Patrol (4) investigations (5) prosecution and (6) analysis of pattern of crime. The Patrolling Section should be headed by an SI. Their duties are to (1) carry out Beat Patrol (2) liaison with public in the field and (3) check out particulars of every household/business concern. The Security Section should be headed by an SI/ASI and will do intelligence gathering with respect to (1) various radical groups (2) discontented elements (3) labour and student groups active in political militancy. The Crime Prevention Section will be headed by an SI and have male/female personnel of better education to look after females and juveniles in two different units. The female unit will deal with family disputes or family problems in close liaison with the Human Resources Division so that matters can be settled by arbitration before they reach court. Similarly the Juvenile unit will maintain records and keep tabs on all juveniles involved in crime in the area. It will maintain liaison with NGOs and social work organization for treatment/inter-action with juvenile delinquents. The Administrative Section should be headed by an SI, it must have a (1) Administration Support Unit to look after all matters relating to personnel, vehicles, arms and equipment, buildings (including the Annexe), stores, etc and (2) a Finance Section dealing with Pay Rolls and other financial matters relating to a PS.
In an imaginative move keeping with the times, it is necessary to have a radical departure in the concept of the control of crime. The effort should be to change the environment of the PS from a “house of fear” to an oasis of peace and justice where citizens can get their routine needs met with respect to law enforcement. A Human Resources Division headed by a Special Magistrate appointed by the Judiciary and independent of the executive can fulfil this requirement. The Division should consist of (1) Judiciary Section composed of the Special Magistrate and two junior colleagues who will apportion duties so that at least one is on duty at all times. All matters relating to petty crime, etc should be referred by the SHO and decided at this level so as to ease the pressure on the courts. While the SHO is empowered to take down confessional statements, the ends of justice will be better served by having the Magistrate do the needful. The other should be the Human Rights Section would be controlled by a Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and have four sub-sections viz (a) Public Relations to be headed by a volunteer appointed by the District CPLC, one such PR volunteer at all times present on the premises (b) Arbitration Cell to be composed of a volunteer senior citizens of the area to act as Arbitrators in matters of dispute so that matters are settled out of court. Arbitrators should be appointed by the Judiciary in consultation with local administration (c) Legal Aid to be composed of partly-paid volunteers, at least one being present at all times to provide legal aid relief to the uneducated or those who cannot afford legal help (d) Medical Aid can be optional, to be composed of partly-paid volunteers from the medical profession having requisite first aid equipment and medicines, at least one Doctor at all times on the premises along with an ambulance. They can also help in medical emergencies in the area i.e. evacuation of affected people to concerned hospitals.
To make this experimental model successful, some PS in the urban area should be made models for adoption. Changes will have to be made in line with the experience gained as the experiment progresses. The police personnel should not be changed, they should be made to do their job, effective monitoring can be provided “on the job” by the Human Resources Division. The idea is to humanize the PS, to convert it from a den of fear to an oasis of peace for the citizenry of the area.
(The writer acknowledges with gratitude the advice and help given by Mr. Asad Jahangir Khan, Additional IG Police Sindh with respect to the Police portion (Operational Management Division) and the publication on “Human Rights by the Judiciary” edited by Mr. Zakaullah, Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which helped to formulate the idea of the “Human Resources Division”).
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