Most police officers pin their hopes on the implementation of the directives issued by the Supreme Court in 2006 in what is known as Prakash Singh case. They say that this would stop the political and bureaucratic interference in police work and lead to the much-needed police reforms. Sadly, in the last 16 years, we have neither heard of any State implementing these .directives in 'letter and spirit', nor have we heard of any noteworthy reform in police functioning, in the States where these directives have been followed to some extent.
I firmly believe that police reform can be effective and sustainable only if it is a part of comprehensive revamp of the Criminal Justice System , of which there is, unfortunately, no sign whatsoever. But, I don't think that police officers have to leave the matter to fate and that they cannot do anything to hasten reforms
To me, it is axiomatic that a revamp of the CJS can happen only under pressure of well-informed and awakened public opinion and I think that a police force which has earned a reputation for integrity , sincerity, and efficiency can inform and channelise public opinion in this direction. This means that officers who practice the virtues mentioned in the beginning , despite knocks , and wish to see police reforms materialize must exercise their best skills to:
(1) carry all their police friends and- most importantly- their subordinates with them and convince them that loyalty and camaraderie must not extend to covering up malfeasance because such cover up is really a betrayal of the public, whose trust and support we need to earn;
(2) constantly share as much information with the public as is permissible and known to be accurate. ( The police training institutions must train all police officers in this);
(3) must invest time and energy into addressing grievances of subordinates and complaints of the public; and
(4) ruthlessly weed out personnel found guilty of acts of moral turpitude such as fabrication of evidence to implicate an innocent person, suppression of evidence to favor a guilty person, extortion and brutality. ( incidentally, this will also improve the chances for promotions ).
Undoubtedly, the road to reforms will be long and bumpy, but these officers can draw a lot of satisfaction from knowing that they have done their bit in a big cause ( my everlasting good wishes to them!!)
(Critical comments are welcome; there is no monitoring.
