The new Punjab police IG is certainly starting his stint by saying all the right things. The police force should not become the hand of the oppressor, instead it should become the hand of the oppressed, he said upon taking command. He also said that the best way of solving people’s problems at their doorsteps was to reform police stations. In short, he implied that police reforms can never be successfully implemented without first improving the working of the force and changing its attitude. And to top it all he also said that corrupt policemen would be sacked under his watch. One can only hope that his words will be taken just as seriously by his own force as they are expected to be taken by the public. It is also very sincerely hoped that he would last long enough on the job to implement his vision in letter and spirit. For there can be no denying that over the years the police force has emerged as one of the most corrupt entities in the land. In fact, people are able to get away with crimes like even rape and murder because they know that they can have the initial police report diluted by paying bribes, etc, and once the first information report (FIR) is not up to the mark, no prosecution can build a water tight case against any offender. With time the public has also grown to fear the police far more than it has come to trust it. The reason, once again, is the perception that the force is more likely to side with the party that can grease palms more easily, regardless of the merits of most cases. Of course such genearlisations do not apply to all officers in the large force, but the incidence of corruption is found often enough for even the IG of the most important province to voice concern about it. All eyes will now be on the new Punjab police chief, not just because he’s just one more in a long line of IGs to serve this particular government, but also because he’s set the bar very high; for himself and his force. There is, however, the chance of those he was lecturing taking his sermon with a grain of salt, wondering if he will have the time to implement his grand ideas or not. Such is the downside of changing the top man once too often in so short a time. So whether or not the new IG will be able to carry out his reforms remains to be seen. *