Police need to unlearn ABC

CHANDIGARH:The police need to get their ABC — alcoholism, behavioural aberrations and corruption — right. This would go a long way in refurbishing the force''s image. No amount of cosmetic makeover will help unless the police tackle ABC. This forms the theme of "Who Cares?" a book by Punjab police officer Dr Jatindra Jain. The book was released by chief minister Amarinder Singh at the 35th all-India Police Science Congress held recently in Jalandhar.
While redefining police as a "public oriented lawful instrument for crime eradication", Jain, a 1993 batch IPS officer, has pointed out that little effort had been made to improve the functioning of the force."Police continues to be governed by the 1861 police Act and the age-old Punjab police rules which still have references to Lahore."
A large number of commissions and committees have studied the maladies afflicting the police force, yet nothing concrete has been done to bring about improvement in its working. Jain says the situation of police department could be compared to that of a patient who has undergone tests, has the disease diagnosed and the right medicine prescribed, but has nobody to administer the dose.
Jain has sought to propound a thesis that degeneration in the police culture is primarily attributed to the fact that it is an overburdened force, with endless work hours. The social, economic and psychological needs of the policemen are not taken care of. As a result the quality of work deteriorates and behavioural problems crop up.
He says that the common public perception has been that political meddling in the affairs of the police is the single major factor responsible for the poor performance of the force. This has also taken a toll on the efficiency and integrity of the force.
The working conditions of the police need to be improved drastically. The means of transport, communication, investigation and detection continue to be primitive. Most of the police stations do not have basic tools required for prevention and detection of crime. Jain has expressed serious concern over the new trend of "summary trials". He says instead of registering FIRs on the basis of complaints made to the police, officers have been marking "inquire and report".
With this the police arrogate on themselves the powers to adjudicate between the two opposing parties. This has introduced large number of malpractices in the police functioning, including illegal detention.
He cites the instance of Amritsar district where in 1997 alone the police inquired into 8761 complaints, but only 830 FIRs were registered. Similarly, in Ludhiana 13,228 complaints were investigated in the same year, but 1,576 FIRs were registered. "Serious thought has to be given to either legalising the inquiries or to discard the practice altogether."