A serious operation is underway in southern Punjab-against kidnappers and robbers, who have been hiding out in Rajanpur’s katcha area in an attempt to evade the police. Last November, a similar police operation in Ghotki went awry and five police personnel were lost after dacoits attacked them. Two police officers were abducted by dacoits in Kandhkot earlier this month. Meanwhile, TTP militants continue to attack police personnel all across the country without facing any repercussions. It is safe to say that they simply aren’t afraid of the police anymore. We should be asking why our law enforcement agencies aren’t equipped to deal with robberies when these are exactly the kind of situations they are expected to navigate. Currently, there are 11,000 police personnel involved in the operation-backup clearly isn’t the issue here. Punjab police have the highest budget in the country and still can’t seem to get the hang of things. Our civil institutions are simply too weak to implement law and order-a cursory glance at the police reveals that they haven’t been trained to steer complex situations such as these. The general public doesn’t seem to trust the police either, complicating investigations that require the police to cooperate with insiders who may have crucial information. In the absence of trust and partnership, the police slowly lose their credibility. Clearly, police incompetence has snowballed into somewhat of a systematic crisis. Last time, we ushered in the military to clear up what the police could not handle. But perhaps we should be spending more time re-strategising and understanding why criminals and terrorists can overpower our police so easily. Let’s not forget that we inherited our police system from the British and have made no organised attempt to reform it since-the government’s failure to invest in law enforcement reform has completely incapacitated our police force. Structural problems such as the absence of special security measures and inadequate training continue to haunt the organisation and hinder effective policing. Modernisation is crucial in the fight against crime; it is high time we stop pitying ourselves and recognise this. *