Daily Times

It is worth noting that Lahore, with a population of over 15 million, has a police force of approximately 25,000. I am a simple citizen and living in Lahore for the last 29 years without any fear, but from past few months’ incidents of crime, in particular street crime, have increased my apprehensions. Official data shows that incidents of extortion, car snatching and kidnapping have increased in the 11 months of 2016. There were 507 murders in the full year of 2015 while in 2016 there are already 502 incidents – hardly an improvement.

Just for my readers, I want to let them know what crime is. Crime is defined as “an action or an instance of negligence that is injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or law for which some, which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a punishment.”

We all know that these days, street crimes are becoming one of the most common activities of people on the streets. It is simply taken as the gamer to snatch the accessories of the people and disappear in just few seconds.

The incident of robbery in day light at city’s busiest roads, despite the fact that hundreds of Dolphin Squad and Police Response Unit (PRU) personnel are seen patrolling on the roads, is a serious question mark on the performance of the authorities. The Punjab government has spent an exorbitant amount of money on the Turkish inspired ‘Dolphin force’ that has over 700 officers on patrol with 500 cc imported Honda bikes costing 1 million rupees each at their disposal. The complimentary ‘Police Response Unit’ has brand new Toyota Corollas, with each car costing close to rupees 2 million. Heavy investment has also been made in the monitoring systems at the DIG and SP offices. But sadly of no use.

I remember the words of a high official of police that Dolphin Force is trained to chase the criminals at all roads, streets and congested areas of metropolitan Lahore with a spirit to make the lives and properties of Lahorites more secure and safe. But practically the situation is quite different. Street crime is unchecked across the country in cities and towns large and small.

In Lahore, hundreds of phones are snatched, ordinary people assaulted and injured, and in some cases killed in the commission of these crimes, while the catching of these robbers and their subsequent prosecution is rare. Crime has become normative, acceptable even, and the futility of reporting it to the police glaringly obvious. According to some surveys and studies, 50 percent of crimes are never registered by police authorities. Several factors are responsible for this disquiet, the most important being that the police itself discourages proper recording of crime. The police in Pakistan are infamous for hiding actual numbers of crime; often using the justification of insufficient resources.

I speak from personal experience as a few weeks I was looted on gunpoint and when I asked the police to register my complain they simply refused while giving lame and useless excuses. I believe that there are two main reasons for not registering a proper FIR or complain as in such cases usually the policemen concerned are also involved or the police officials do not want to register a case because it damages the credibility of the police station or the relevant SHO.

I personally believe that Punjab police can never provide relief that general people deserve and it is generally seen as a waste of effort and money. The iniquitous police style and brutal methods of investigation also makes people think twice before going to a police station even if they have been wronged or have suffered at the hands of another. It is evident that the people of Pakistan are being deprived of their basic right of registering crimes and getting information and further, they cannot afford to raise their voices against this injustice and have a negative attitude of fear of reprisal from the police

Most of the recent investment in police is the result of the Punjab Police constantly cribbing about the non-availability of up to date technology to help them do their jobs better. With that demand fulfilled, one would think the situation would at least not worsen if not improve. This directly proportional relation between more money spent on police technology and the increase in crime is indicative of a much larger, older and deep-rooted problem – the lack of investment in human capital within the police force.

My advice to the Chief Minister is that amount of money thrown at shiny bikes and expensive command centres is not going to bring improvement in crime figures unless the people using them are well trained, educated professionals committed to the job. In addition to the training aspect, a cultural reform in the police is necessary, which can only come about when merit-based non-political appointments are made. The government should take some steps to check street crimes. People who are found guilty of such crimes should be punished with an iron hand. Police must patrol the streets and roads round the clock. Special patrol police units must be kept ready in various parts of cities. A contact between the public and police should be made easy and quick. Surely, these steps will bring an end to street crimes.

Last but not the least our police department is not performing as well as we need it to be. It is busy in giving security to VIP people but not working for ordinary people.

The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. Presently, he is linked with a humanitarian organisation. He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com