What are the causes for popular dissatisfaction with the police and who is responsible for it? What follows are examples of popular discontent against the police. The issue is not whether all of these are absolutely true or not but whether they exist in the public mind and whether there is any justification for them.

1. Police are the principal violators of the law and they get away with impunity.

2. Some sections of the police are in league with anti-social elements. Consequently, they indulge in selective enforcement of the law.

3. Police exhibit rude behaviour, abusive language and contempt towards courts and human rights; they indulge in all forms of corruption.

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4. Depending on the socio-cultural status, economic power and political influences of people who ap­proach those, police adopt differential attitudes, violating equality and human dignity.

5. Police are either ignorant of the precepts of human rights or they deliberately disregard them in the matters of arrest, interrogation, searching, detention and preventive policing.

6. Given the dismal record of prevention and successful investigation of crimes, the police lack ac­countability in protection of life and property.

7. While crimes are getting sophisticated, the police are becoming less professional. There is no evi­dence of a collective desire within the police organisation to redeem its public image.

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8. The police are insensitive towards victims of violent crimes. They sometimes behave rudely with victims, as if they are responsible for their fate.

9. At least a section of policemen think of human rights as antithetical to effective law enforcement. They blame the law, lawyers and courts for their own inefficiency.

10. Of late, some policemen have publicly shown leniency towards fundamentalists and terrorists, mani­festing a dangerous threat to security and constitutional governance.

The tragedy is that unlike other departments of the government, if policing tends to become law­less, the very foundations of democracy are in jeopardy, development subverted and the country’s in­tegrity compromised hence the urgency to reform the police and their style of functioning.

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More than fifty percent of complaints received by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India every year are against police personnel.

Public complaints against police personnel indicate that:

» They are brutal and lawless;

» They are highly corrupt;

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» They are partisan and politicized; and

» They lack professional competence.

A media scan done by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a non-governmental organisation fighting against human rights violations in India, reveals that over the last few years, there has been increasing involvement of police personnel in committing crime. Official statistics indicate increasing deviance amongst police personnel.

The ignoble functioning of the police is to some extent a part of the large problem of criminalisation of politics. A large number of criminals have entered the corridors of power. An illegitimate nexus has developed between the police, bureaucrat, politician and the criminal. The worst victim of this system of mafia politics and politicised policing is the common man, who really wants efficient and reliable polic­ing but is not being heard.

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The need for police reforms is self-evident and urgent. It is, in fact, essential for the very survival of our democratic structure, establishment of good governance, protection of human rights and achieve­ment of economic progress.

What can be done and by whom

The police, the government and society each have a role to play in improving the law enforcement situation and in developing human rights-oriented police in the country. If the government had accepted the recommendations of the National Police Commission and set up state security commissions, the work of coordinating action among the three constituents could have been undertaken.

In the absence of an independent state security commission, the initiative must come from the government as well as from the police department.

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The public naturally will be eager to respond adequately and give momen­tum to the reform process, which will be welcomed by everybody except the corrupt and criminal ele­ments thriving on police inefficiency.

Reforms within the police

A lot can be achieved towards change in public perceptions and to improve the standards of policing if the leadership within the police organisation is fully committed to reform. After all, every profession has the primary responsibility to discipline its members and maintain a code of ethical behaviour by internal mechanisms and by peer groups.

The police are intrinsically disciplined and superiors command a lot of power and control over their subordinates. If this situation is to be put to good use, the superiors should be above board and transparent in their dealings.

It is essential that reforms in the organisation start from above and clear signals of good behaviour are sent down to all the ranks. Organisational behaviour is largely the outcome of training and continu­ing education. Police training is archaic in content and methods. The emphasis is still more on muscle than on the mind.

Human rights, if at all, form an insignificant module in the training programme and there is hardly any emphasis on human rights in the training of constables, who form 85 percent of the force. A subculture inimical to democratic policing pervades the organisation and is perpetrated due to indifference or connivance of seniors. Respect for human rights is not rewarded.

If the leadership itself is doubtful about the imperatives of human rights in policing, and if they disregard its importance in the training of subordinate officers, it is pointless to expect change in the behaviour of ordinary sub-inspectors and constables.

Another reform that can be brought about by the police themselves is with respect to the adoption of fair, quick and responsible methods of redress for complaints against the police. The system has to be institutionalised and integrated with police roles and responsibilities.

Why not hold regular “police adalats” at every police station to receive and respond to public grievances? Transparency brings efficiency and popular support. Without public participation, no police force, however well equipped and trained, can fight crime in any society. As such, the police have to take the initiative to build bridges with all sections of society and solicit their cooperation.

It is possible for an inspector general to appoint honorary police officers from amongst respectable members of the public, in different areas who can augment police efforts in crime prevention and detection.

Reforms that the government has to undertake

No government can plead paucity of funds for its inability to protect the life and property of its citizens. Therefore, the reason for governmental neglect of police reforms is not lack of funds but its desire to misuse the force for narrow partisan ends. This is the character of every government irrespective of whichever party is in power.

People have begun to comprehend the misuse of the police by the politi­cians to perpetuate sectarian interests and conceal their illegal actions.

There is decreasing reliance on the state police and increasing dependence on private police, private detective agencies and protection from mafia gangs or self-help. “Senas” [private armies] are being trained and armed to defend particular interests, legitimate or otherwise, and the state is a silent spectator in the rise of such power centres attempting to control the lives of people in different areas. The rule of law is being undermined and people’s faith in the police has been eroded.

· A survey of 100 out of 145 police training institutions in the country done by the Bureau of Police

Research and Development in June 1995 revealed the following:

· Methodology of outdoor training is largely modeled on the regimented military style with emphasis on timing, uniformity and adherence to the set ritualistic and ceremonial procedures.

· In case of indoor subjects, training is imparted through the chalk and talk method.

· The quality of the trainers is generally poor.

· Very few training institutions have published training material for use by the trainees.

· Out of 100 police training institutions, 23 were functioning without class rooms, 18 without black boards, 16 without over head projectors, 57 without conference rooms, 76 without seminar or assem­bly halls, 20 without library, 70 without auditorium, 93 without simulation facilities, 95 without forensic units, 72 without computers and 4 did not have even lavatory facilities.

· There is invariably a shortage of funds.

· What the government needs to do vis-a-vis the police, if it wants to govern according to the Consti­tution, is spelt out in great detail in the National Police Commission reports and it is unnecessary to repeat them here.

· All that one can say is that the people have to be vigilant and demand lesser interfer­ence from their governments in the day to day functioning of the police and greater accountability on decisions concerning the police and the law and order situation in the states.

Reforms that people can initiate

According to an old adage, every society gets the police it deserves. After all, policemen come from the same society and reflect the attitudes and behaviour that are found in society.

All sections of society, particularly the media, can help improve the status and efficiency of the police force.

They can attempt not to disparage the police without justification. If they cooperate in law enforcement, there is bound to be a welcome response from the other side that eventually will result in greater social defense and better law and order situation. People and police ought not to maintain an adversarial relationship as it harms both of them.

There are black sheep in every organisation. To isolate and cultivate the talented is the challenge that has to be faced by the community, the media and the NGOs. Such a partnership guarantees human rights protection, the security of life and property and a credible system of criminal justice in the country.

Terrorism has never been curbed by the state terrorism, (the latter is never permissible both under out Constitution and international human rights law) but only by public opinion turning against the sense­less killings, rapes, and extortion by the terrorists.

It is legally unacceptable for any state or official to assert that the victims must suffer in silence human rights violations by state agencies on the specious ground that it will demoralize the latter. On the contrary, it must be emphasised that if we are to have real peace, there must be double guarantee of no violations, either by the state agencies or by terrorists.

In this connection the observations of Britain’s Secretary for Northern Ireland (in 1960) are worth recalling: “Our adherence to the rule of law, in the face of the most atrocious provocation, sustains our civilisation… It is one of the terrorists’ main objectives… to provoke the authorities to measures that will be judged oppressive and cause us to lose the confidence and support of the community at large…”

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has affirmed the obligation of the state concerned to investigate, prosecute and punish crimes against humanity. A consequence of that state obligation is the concomitant legitimate expectation (if not a right) on the part of the victim to see justice done.

In India, the public has faith in Governments of different political hues as reforms have not been undertaken because that would mean placing the police outside the clutches of the politicians who will then not be able to use them against opponents.

A history of various attempts at police reforms and the fate of the respective commissions will show an inbred resistance among all Governments to embark on real reforms. The Government of India appointed a National Police Commission in 1977 to undertake a review of the entire system.

The Commission remained in existence till 1982 and submitted eight comprehensive reports to the Government, containing recommendations covering almost all aspects of police organisation and work. But such was the cloak of secrecy over them that the Peoples Unions for Civil Liberties and others had to move the Supreme Court for making the reports public, in the face of the stout resistance from the then Government.

No real action was taken for the next decade and a Gupta as Union Home Minister in the United Front Government wrote to the State Governments in 1997 expressing his sadness that they had so far not even made any attempt to implement many of the basic and salutary recommendations of the National Police Commission to bring about the required changes in police performance and behaviour pattern.

In the note accompanying the letter, Gupta suggested that keeping in view the major aberra­tions which have crept into the police system and its malfunctioning all over the country, some important recommendations of the National Police Commission need to be implemented urgently at the State level to check any further deterioration in the policing system affecting the lives and liberties of the citizens: (i) constitution of a statutory commission in each State called the State Security Commission; (ii) laying down broad policy guidelines and directions for the performance of preventive tasks and service-oriented functions by the police.

The State Security Commission should have the Minister in charge of Police as Chairman and six more members.

Two of these should be from the State Legislature (one from the ruling side and the other from the opposition) and four should be appointed by the Chief Minister, subject to the approval of the State legislature, from amongst retired High Court Judges, retired senior Government officers and eminent social scientists or academicians.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had also called for reforms as it felt that “an efficient, honest police force is the principal bulwark of the nation against violations of human rights”. And one of the measures for this purpose was to provide a statutory tenure of office for the Chief of Police in the State.

About twenty years ago, the National Police Commission (NPC) made a series of recommendations for police reforms, some aimed at insulating the police from illegitimate outside control, pr and interference (a summary of a few major recommendations is given below.)

The NPC’s recommendations have remained unimplemented. There is a deep-seated and resistance to the idea of police reforms. Politicians and bureaucrats have developed a great v interest in retaining control and superintendence over the police organisation.

The lack of res from several states in India to the letter written in April 1997 by the then Union Minister for Gupta was indicative of the deeply entrenched resistance to police reform. The letter dir Chief Ministers of all States to rise above narrow partisan or political considerations police reforms on the lines recommended by the NPC failed to produce even a single response.