“When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of police officers unsafe”. (Marry Frances Berry)
Police stations around the world are regarded as a physical and operational manifestation of a state. By knocking at the doors of police stations, the victims in distress must experience the protective role of a state. Therefore, a police station must act as a “shock therapy centre”.
During the last two decades, there is a growing trend in the provinces to introduce model police stations (MPS). Although a number of police stations were declared MPS, no specific body has evaluated service delivery at ordinary and model police stations for comparative purposes.
Taxpayers have the right to know how these model police stations are different from the traditional ones.
Globally, police are being rapidly transformed from a force to a public service. However, in developing societies, the majority of police chiefs hardly pay attention to the growing police-public mistrust. Most of them fail to realise that mere cosmetic coating may not transform the colonial brutal face of the force.
In 2014, Aitbar (NGO) and KP police ventured into the transformation of three police stations in Peshawar into MPS. Next year, the experience of Peshawar was replicated in Swabi, Mardan, Nowshera and Charsadda.
Our police stations usually present an abandoned and shabby look, either surrounded by junk of case-property vehicles or piles of sandbags. The buildings of police stations hardly cater for the needs of complainants and victims. The infrastructure of police stations is also averse to the needs of women and children.
Post 9/11, several police stations across the country were attacked by militants, thus exposing structural security loopholes. Although KP police tried to standardise the designing of new police stations, the same needs to be replicated at old police stations as well.
Parliamentarians must realise that more investment in policing and accountability of public safety apparatus will certainly improve safety standards. The situation warrants the inclusion of the construction of police stations and police posts on a priority basis in the annual development programmes.
Merely bringing changes in the infrastructure of police stations can hardly improve public service delivery. The police cannot change their image without an improvement in their attitude towards the public.
Our police stations are primarily male dominated where it becomes difficult for female victims to lodge their complaints. Though recent attempt of KP police to introduce “women desks” is a welcome step, it requires immediate expansion, through hiring and training of more women police officials.
To reduce corrupt practices and burden on poor victims, the financing of police stations needs special attention of the provincial governments. In police departments, financial allocations are made to the offices of IGP, DPO and RPO. Financial transparency warrants allocation at police stations level and empowerment of SHOs as Drawing Disbursement Officers (DDOs).
Without police-community reach out programmes based on comprehensive communication strategy, all other efforts may prove as futile exercises. By adopting community policing model, police stations may work as a repository of information.
Police stations are still averse to technology. Technology is only being used for typing of memos. Technology has hardly travelled downwards from the office of SP to the police station. To increase police efficiency, we have primarily focused on induction of more and more workforce. Since policing is confronted with challenges of extremism and militancy, we must come out of the numerical maze and attain a balance in-between statistical model and technology-led policing.
To make ‘thana” a credible symbol of the state, it is essential to respect the “tenure policy”, and police are to be made accountable to public oversight.
Sometimes “long chain of police command” — having 12 ranks — itself creates inconvenience for the victims. To seek operational help from lower ranks, the complainants usually first approach the senior ranks. To make police stations more effective, the lower ranks are supposed to work without seeking directions from the senior command. However, that is not possible without instilling trust and dedication.
Revamping of police stations without fulfilling public needs has proved wastage of time and resources. Since a police station is the main gate of the fort of criminal justice system (CJS), a shabby main gate will not only compromise the image of entire CJS but also strengthen the criminals and non-state actors.
Without the de-politicisation of police stations, its conversion as a public facilitation centre will always remain a lofty ideal. Only with political manifestation and ownership, we may be able to attain this ideal.
The writer is a police officer and tweets @alibabakhel