Policing – why we have lost faith in the khaki

There is a dire need for police reforms; it is already very late

In this Readers’ Impact section, we take up the case of policing in India.

It is a sad reality that the people meant to protect us are the most intimidating. Most Indians do want to even visit a police station and those who do lose faith in the justice system forever, with a few exceptions of course.

However, most of the unrest in the country – terror attacks, communal riots, naxalism and social life in general would have been minimal if police act as per law and with just a bit of integrity. The apathy of police is seen across the nation and generations.

Udaipur’s Kanhaiyalal is the latest incident to show what is wrong with policing in India. But in fact there are huge number of “low-profile” cases, each which could have been solved at the local police level.

Isn’t it strange that in India, “law and order” is still a state subject – though IPS’ helm the affairs in every district. This leads to a lot of confusion and “central” agencies are roped in when it is too late or when evidences are removed.

Unfortunately, instead of helping people getting justice, police today, across India, are identified with the following:

Atrocities
Corruption
Intimidation
Lack of action/filing a report and providing acknowledgment despite insisting
Wrong action
Delay in action
Political tool – eternally engaged in bandobast duty.
Lack of decent educated staff
Show of authority
Misuse of authority
No neighbourhood policing
Lack of modernisation – record-keeping; most well-off police stations do not have a printer, scanner or photocopier
Lethargy and absenteeism
Lack of communication skills

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Hence, we invite reader participation.

Shouldn’t we make police a central force to start with? What other reforms are required?

Share your experiences with police and we will publish it within this article. Write to us at reader@mddtimes.com; all inputs will be kept confidential.