Society, state and police on July 15, 2018Regardless of their personal beliefs, individual policemen are sworn to uphold the law. This duty is just if the laws are aligned with the natural rights of man, but unjust if the laws infringe on these rights. In practice, police officers do not differentiate between Rule of Law and Rule by Law, so the architecture […]
Police powers and discretion on July 10, 2018Policing requires officers that use good judgment and assess each situation. A political scientist Davis defined discretion as being “free to make choices.” Discretion is necessary because the nature of policing is filled with uncertainty and inefficiency. Policing is unique in that the employees at the bottom often seem to have more discretion than those […]
Restructuring the police on June 14, 2018Police reform is a complex endeavour. Attempts at Police reforms in other countries have exemplified the issues that may arise if it isn’t implemented properly across the entire police force. However, before deliberating on the kind of reforms you want to execute, you must first consider the different types of policing that are present in […]
Pakistan needs forensic science on February 18, 2018I heard about a recently concluded Forensic seminar at the Punjab Judicial Academy which trains judges. It made me think about the state of Forensic science in Pakistan; this has come a long way despite significant hurdles, but the journey has not been easy or will be in the future. We have generally paid lip […]
Threat profiling on March 22, 2017The aftermath of spectacular terror attacks follow a predictable pattern in Pakistan. Once the immediate shock wears off, there is an inevitable media scramble for information about the perpetrators, grief for the victims, and the hunt for security lapses. Security threat alerts are now commonly displayed on the media considering threat alerts issued by law […]
Predicting terrorist events on March 13, 2017The holding of the PSL is indeed a great achievement for Pakistan, as the threats of terrorism loomed over the whole game till it ended. However, we cannot just rely on this undoubtedly remarkable victory over terrorism to sit back and bask in complacency. More than ever, we have to start proactively responding and even […]
The roots of extremism on April 14, 2016In the aftermath of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ (ICIJ) release of the Panama Papers, it has become public knowledge how many powerful people, including world leaders, have kept, circulated, and hidden away huge sums of money using tax havens. The Panama Papers also reveal a certain fact about Pakistan: it is not a […]
Stop terrorism with grassroots policing on February 4, 2016The gallant efforts of the local police in deterring the terrorists at Charsaddah University before reinforcements arrived has once again highlighted the importance of the police force in combating terrorism. Without the valiant efforts of the local police, who not only resisted the advance of the terrorists (some reports say they actually killed two of […]
NAP: unimplemented measures on November 13, 2015The National Action Plan (NAP) has been a catchword in the media and for the government, announced with much fanfare. The Pakistani military has tackled its mandate of tackling terrorists militarily and has made commendable progress. However, months later, for the civilian administration implementation has been lacklustre and there seems no strategic direction. NAP has […]
Stability of tenure for the police on November 6, 2015On independence, Pakistan continued with the pre-independence Police Act 1861, which was framed by the British for policing a colony. This act has continued to be the basis of the police system in Pakistan with some minor amendments until 2002. In 2002, on the premise of introducing a police law that was politically neutral and […]