Balochistan police comprises of a rather peculiar role in comparison to the rest of the country’s police and still peruses an archaic colonial system dating to 1861. The police totally depend on the district administration of the province. In such conditions, police cannot function independently under the old colonial system. Surprisingly, police have no powers in 90 per cent of the area in the province. Police are only limited to the ‘A’ areas due to which they could not deliver their services. Additionally, ‘A’ areas come under the jurisdiction of police while ‘B’ areas come under jurisdiction of levies. Unfortunately, the government of Balochistan passed an act on 24th August 2011 known as Balochistan Police Act2011. The PA 2011 wasbased on the old colonial PA 1861. The Police Order 2002 in Balochistan was repealed for political interference in police matters. The original PO 2002 was an attempt to provide the police operational autonomy which was later amended twice in 2004 and 2006 to retain political interference by the legislators. The PA 2011 only empowered the Home Secretary Balochistan to make postings and transfers on recommendations of the Chief Minister (CM) and Services and General Administration Department. The PA 2011 is another attempt to make the role of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Balochistan dysfunctional. Under the PA 2011, multiple posts were abolished while others were restored, under the supervision of district magistrates/commissioners. In Balochistan, many terrorist attacks have occurred; police are not empowered to play their role in this regard. The recent inhumane act of terrorism took place in Machhby killing Hazara coal minerswhich is an example of lack of security and dysfunctional role of police in the province. It is true that citizens cannot depend only on frontier corps (FC) and levies in Balochistan. There is a clear lack of political will to bring police reforms by ensuring rule of law, protection and rights of the citizens and giving autonomy to police in the province.Everywhere police are responsible for maintaining law and order situation.Importantly, there is a major issue of ‘A’ and ‘B’ areas in Balochistan due to which problems have taken place.Thetotal strength of Balochistan police is 38,000 as compared tothe levies and FCwhich comprises 23,000 and 52,000 respectively. The levies personnel are not well equipped and trained due to which in many cases they could not handle the situation. Several initiatives have taken place including the launch of first “Mobile Police Station” of Pakistan in Quetta, appointment of first ever woman police officer Ms. Pari Gul as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), computerization of police department and upgradation of police posts Historically, an attempt was done to convert all ‘B’ areas into ‘A’ areas from the period of 2003 to 2007 and levies were merged with police. All the ‘B’ areas were converted into ‘A’ areas. Later on, the new government came into power and restored the old status of ‘B’ areas in the province. In 2008, the conversion into ‘A’ areas was reverted by the political leadership through resolution. The conversion was not an easy task but worthy police officers including Dr. ShoaibSuddle, Mr. Ch. Yaqoob, and Mr. Tariq Khosawho remained ex-IGPBalochistan and their team worked lots for changingthe policing system. Till now, a huge challenge for law and order in Balochistan still stands in hindrance due to restoring ‘B’ areas. Under the command of IGP Balochistan Mr. Mohsin, several initiatives have taken place including the launch of first“Mobile Police Station” of Pakistan in Quetta, appointment of first ever woman police officer Ms. Pari Gul as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), computerization of police department and upgradation of police posts etc. In reforms, real stakeholder police officers of all ranks must be made part rather than paying paths for officers from other groups.The provincial governmentshould begin from permanentconversion of ‘B’ areas into ‘A’ areas to ensure rule of lawwithout political biases.The police officers who worked in the past on the pilot project of conversion ‘B’ into ‘A’ areas should be consulted. Immediately, the original PO 2002 should be enacted if the government is willing to make police independent and ensure law and order situation in the province. Furthermore, the core issues of the police must be identified and resolved which theyface in the field. The budget and salaries of the police must be increased. Police stationsshould be financially empowered. Appointments should only be made at constable and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) level by increasing representation of the women and local residents. In this stage, direct appointment of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) should be stopped and rank officers should be promoted. Public Safety Commissions at every level should be established to ensure security of tenure of all rank officers in the province. A standard “Forensic Science Laboratory” should be established (as earlier some work had been done in this regard). The training institutions should be upgraded and training capacity of the police personnel should be increased. Basic facilities should be provided to the police personnel. Immediatelypolice hospitals should be built up at district or regional level because there is no hospital for police personnel in Balochistan. It is seen that police reforms are not the agenda of the ruling governments which governed the province. Hopefully, this time the provincial and federal government will consider such recommendations to bring real reforms by making police an independent and ensuring rule of law for citizens of Balochistan under a democratic government. Civil society has to play a vital role for this cause of bringing reforms and empowering police in the province. Noteworthy, better police can make better Pakistan. SalamPolice! The writer works on Police Reforms in Pakistan & is a member of Pakistan Police Reforms Think Tank (Internet Based). He can be reached at @AllogeneousJano on Twitter.