Fashioning People's Police

It is often said that the police that the British fashioned for a colonial purpose is out-dated for the post-Independence India. The people of an independent democratic country have expectations from their protector which differ diametrically from the expectations of the colonial masters whose perception was naturally top-down.

It is not as if this has not been recognised by the powers that be. There have been attempts to study the problem of policing in India; the most notable being the Police Commission which was set up nearly four decades ago. The recommendations of the Commission have not been implemented over the long period that has elapsed since the recommendations were made. Meanwhile, the police remains mired in professional conditions which hamper their performance, and the distance between the public and their servant continues to be enormous.

An impartial judge of the policeman will also look at the reasons why there is a gap between expectations and delivery of this extremely vital public servant. There will be, in such an assessment, empathy for the kind of conditions in which a policeman has to not only perform, but also live. The policeman is frequently transferred and hardly gets the time to find suitable accommodation for his family to live in peace. There is a strong resistance from house owners to rent their premises out to policemen given the perception the public has of an average policeman. The result is that the policeman is forced to keep his family either in his home village, or in areas which are not exactly the most respectable ones. The policeman has the mandate for a 24-hour duty, and the condition of public tranquillity in some places does not allow an under-manned police station to grant even the full quota of leave which is due under the rules. A study I conducted during my tenure in the districts showed that the constables, head constables and sub-inspectors posted in the police stations seldom enjoy more than 46 per-cent of the leave they earn and only 67 per-cent of the casual leave which is admissible in a year. The barrack accommodation is not even of the standard that most people would create for their pets! Day in and day out the policeman deals with irate public, rule flouting callous road users, hardened criminals and most uncivil public representatives. As if this is not bad enough, their superiors are often hard task-masters with a limited concern for their welfare. If all this was merely a list of excuses to escape public disapproval of unacceptable behaviour, then all these factors would not have been taken into consideration by the National Police Commission, The Commission came up with a number of recommendations to improve the conditions under which an average policeman has to function. Among other things, the fact that a policeman is lucky if he gets 25 days of leave while a government servant from other departments has nearly 140 holidays in a year and the festivals, national holidays, week-ends can all be enjoyed by him.

Given these adverse conditions, the chances are that a policeman will become irritable, abusive, insensitive, heartless, unfeeling, inconsiderate, thoughtless, and thick-skinned. It will take a great effort on his part to maintain a mental equilibrium and equanimity which are so essential for him to be a model policeman. What can be done to improve his lot? Here is a short list.

1. Construct more residences for men in the place where their families can live in peace and have access to education and medical care.

2. Recruit more men so as to build in sufficient off-hours and holidays for the overworked law-keeper.

3. Increase the frequency of behavioural training capsules.

4. Educate public to respect laws. For this a beginning needs to be made at the school where there should be an emphasis on having respect for the law of the land.

5. Make public aware about the actual powers and limitations the policeman has. It is often the case that people go to police with complaints the law does not expect them to entertain.

6. Make transparent procedures for accountability of the police towards the public.

            Clearly, the onus lies with the political masters of the day. In a democratic set up, the police has to be the servant of the people, and not of the political masters.

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