tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12745462758567144682024-02-20T10:00:22.675-08:00policeguruPrem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-16669736215360807472022-09-09T04:30:00.074-07:002022-09-10T21:42:26.593-07:00The Police ConundrumAlmost all police officers - past and present - agree that the present state of policing is not very satisfactory and they share with the people the dream of a police that is honest, fair, impartial, effective, responsive and law-abiding under all circumstances. Alas! the formula for realizing this dream is yet to be discovered<div><br /></div><div>Most police officers pin their hopes on the implementation of the directives issued by the<i> S</i>upreme Court in 2006 in what is known as <i>Prakash Singh case.</i> 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.</div><div><br /></div><div> 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</div><div><br /></div><div>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:</div><div>(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; </div><div>(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); </div><div>(3) must invest time and energy into addressing grievances of subordinates and complaints of the public; and</div><div>(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 ).</div><div><br /></div><div>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!!)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>(Critical comments are welcome; there is no monitoring. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> <br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-6890404838723847602020-06-20T05:30:00.000-07:002020-06-20T07:14:35.032-07:00Some Thoughts on Police Reforms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The encomiums earned by police personnel in the last 2-3 months has given rise to hopes in the public that this pattern of behaviour will be sustained and to the expectation among police officers - past and present - that this episode will lead to the elusive 'police reforms'.<br />
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From what I read, and from what I hear in TV debates, it seems to me that most police officers pin their hopes on SC-ordained police reforms. Though I am sceptical about the efficacy of these reforms, I wish these hopes are fulfilled. There is another group of officers who think that reforms must be research-led. I don't know how they will get reliable data for their research and how they will make allowances for the tendency of the people to give answers which they think the surveyor is looking for (during surveys), but I wish this groups every success. There is a third, miniscule group ( to which I also belong) which thinks that this is <b>the </b>time when police leadership can re-invent itself and initiate changes that can be sustained, give substantial relief to the public, and pave the way for more reforms which would give India the kind of police it really needs.<br />
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My reading is that the public adulation has touched every police heart, including those who ordinarily don't care much for what the public thinks about them, and police leadership must build upon this and give continuous impetus to it . Traditionally, the interactions between superiors and subordinates in police have been intermittent and stunted. It is now time to change it to a continuous and friendly process. But before that <b>superiors must change their mind-set and accept subordinates as partners in providing public-service</b> because a beat-constable's contribution is as important for achieving the higher objectives of public-service as a SHO's or a SP's. To translate this idea into practice, all officers, specially the SsP and SHOs, must spend much more time in the field and maintain continuous contacts with others out there so that they are fully aware of the challenges faced by the ground staff - be it lack of material resources or hostility of sections of public or pressure of work. The higher officers must contribute to this process by optimising the allocation of resources and reducing paper-work which keeps these officers desk-bound for much of the time. Further, as a corollary, senior officers should connsider organisational restructuring to ensure that constable upwards, all subordinates are given more responsibilities, commensurate with their abilities, and opportunity to acquire higher skills in the field of their choice ( like investigation, cybernetics, intelligence or community relations), and the chance to develop leadership skills and compete for leadership positions.<br />
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The officers must realise that in order to retain public respect when normalcy returns, they must strictly check the mal-practices of suppressionof evidence/ fabrication of evidence, in order to shield a guilty person / implicate an innocent persons, which have commonly marred police work, through close supervision of investigations. It would help them in this task if they are able to make videography of interrogations and searches mandatory and get CCTV installed at all PSs which would record all entries/exits from the PS.<br />
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The officers must recognise that whatever be the popular legend, police alone are not responsible for prevention and detection of crime: it is the Criminal Justice System - of which police are a sub-system - which is meant to ensure safety of life and property and dignity of all citizens. Therefore, they must not condone torture of suspects as the investigative technique of choice: it only breeds corruption and often results in mis-directing investigations.<br />
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I don't think there is anyone who believes that in a democracy, police can do without cordial cooperation of the public nor that such cooperation can be won without paying heed to what the public has to say about police actions ( or, inaction). This means that :<br />
when officers are out in the field, they must interact with as many members of the public as possible and establish rapport with the influencers; and<br />
they must make <b>effective </b>enquiries into complaints that they receive.<br />
I have written several times about enquiries and I do not wish to repeat any of it here. I must state, though, that I think that effective enquiries into complaints ( followed by ruthless culling of the rogues found guilty of serious mis-conduct or suspicious conduct ) is <b>the</b> <b>key</b> to a more acceptable and respected police. It certainly involves a career-risk ( when action is taken against the favourite of some powerful person ) but if the bright young police officers are not willing to accept this risk, then I fear police will soon return to a state of infamy.<br />
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Bhopal; PDMalaviya <br />
20th June,2020<br />
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Critical comments are welcome. Comments can be posted directly, there is no monitoring.<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-60652466556973984042019-06-29T04:49:00.000-07:002019-07-26T08:46:04.059-07:00The Police in Naya Bharat - Part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
New Police Act<br />
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Naya Bharat will need a new Police Act to govern its police. A few years back, the BPR&D had prepared a Model Police Bill and the Central govt should seriously consider adopting it for Delhi with a few changes:<br />
The Preamble should define the police role shortly as 'helping the citizens to enjoy their Constitutional rights and to promote fraternity';<br />
Since 'zero tolerance for corruption' is one of the '<i>mantras' </i>of Naya Bharat, the new Act should make it mandatory to remove a police officer who is found guilty of corruption, manipulation/destruction of evidence, torture, or suspicious conduct;<br />
It should mandate assessment of the character of all police officer and removal from service of any officer who is found to be of weak character;<br />
It should provide for a machinery for citizens' monitoring of the police, without interfering in police operations;and<br />
It should make maintenance of law and order the sole responsibility of police. It should also mandate that to mantain law and order, police shall not place any undue restrictions upon people's Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly and that in the case of a disturbance, police shall act to minimise injuries to person and damage to property.<br />
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Structural changes<br />
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To facilitate the changes that are required, some structural changes will be necessary.<br />
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Since 'better ease of living for all' is another '<i>mantra' </i>of Naya Bharat, it would be necessary to ensure that everyone is able to register his/her application ( for NOC , etc ), complaint (against police, etc) or report ( about something suspicious or some crime, etc ) via e-mail. For this, some volunteers in every village (who could be retired govt servants or school teachers ) should be given a computer, trained in its use, and designated as '<i>police mitra'. </i><b>Then anyone who has a problem could go to any available '<i>mitra' , </i>identify himself /herself with his/her Aadhar card,<i> </i> and lodge his/her application, report, or complaint and get a registration number with which he/she can enquire about the action taken on his/her filing.</b><br />
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To the same end, the PSs must be strengthened so that they can meet all the requirements of the job and provide people with the services they are expected to provide. Under normal circumstances, the SHO should have to approach SP only for additional force for handling demonstrations or for investigation of complex cases of fraud or conspiracy etc. It is unfortunate that most PSs are at present grossly understaffed and under-eqipped : this must be rectified quickly. At the same time, the available manpower at the PSs must be put to optimum use and supervisory officers must check from time to time how the manpower is being utilised.<br />
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It has been mentioned earlier that one factor in securing commitment of the staff is to set an attractive goal. But setting up the goal can not be enough: the staff must <i>feel</i> that it is <i>contributing </i> to the achievement of the goal. So, the staff's contributions should be publicly acknowledged by senior officers from time to time .We are now getting well educated and talented person as constables. In order to make full use of their capabilities and to give them a feeling of <i>significance , </i>these constables must not be kept on 'mechanical' duties for too long: after two or three years, the constables should be given aptitude tests and thereafter, every constable must be given chances to do jobs in the field of his choice. As an incentive to staff to do their jobs well, a constable with a good record must be allowed to sit the SIs' examination after 8 to 10 years of service and every SI with 10 to 12 years of satisfactory service should be allowed to sit a special examination (to be devised by BPR&D, in consultation with the UPSC ) and join the IPS.<br />
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I have mentioned earlier the importance of proximate leadership and of strict supervision of investigations. I have also mentioned the crucial importance of prompt, effective and credible enquiries into complaints against police. Thence, I suggest that an officer of the rank of AsstSP/DySP should be put in charge of every PS, primarily to provide leadership, to supervise and guide investigations, and to enquire into complaints. I also suggest that an experienced prosecutor (maybe retired APP) should be posted to every PS to help IOs with legal advice so that they may avoid leaving loopholes in investigations . These prosecutors should also be trained to act as 'uncle ' to staff so that they can offer staff a shoulder to cry on and give them sane advice to mitigate stress.<br />
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It is my experience that the involvement of too many officers in supervision of crimes is not effective. I think that every investigation must be supervised by the SHO ( if he is not investigating the case himself ); the AsstSP/DySP in charge of PS must srutinise case-diaries of all important cases, inspect the spot and interrogate the important witnesses, and send progress report to SP; the SP should apply his mind to it, verify any aspect of investigation that he considers necessary and issue suitable instructions to the IO, and forward the progress report to the Zonal IGP on a single-file basis, who should satisfy himself that the case has been correctly investigated, and be ultimately responsible for co rrect investigation of all serious crimes.<br />
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At the highest level, the DGP should keep in touch with the govt, ascertain what the govt's policies and priorities are, advise the govt what is feasible and what resources would be needed to achieve the set objectives. Once this is settled and resources allocated, he must, with the assistance of AddlDsGP, lay down the objectives for all the units, allocate resources, and, if necessary, spell out how the objectives are to be achieved. The AddlDsGP should then be responsible to monitor, without disturbing the Zonal IsGP, that the resources are being correctly utilised and whether the set objectives are being achieved or there are problems, and to inform the DGP accordingly.<br />
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Conclusion<br />
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A good deal of changes are required for better policing of Naya Bharat: a new Police Act, some bold decisions at the govt level ( in leaving maintenance of law and order solely in the hands of police, for example), many at the organisational level (most importantly, in style of leadership) and a good deal of public understanding and cooperation. However, all these will yield best results only if a comprehensive review of the Criminal Justice System is undertaken ,the real legal difficulties of the police are removed, a solution is found to the problem of judicial delays, a check is placed on perjury, and courts are helped to devise deterrent punishments.<br />
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Comments can be posted here, there is no monitoring. ( Concluded)</div>
Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-60377446167940603412019-06-21T20:47:00.003-07:002019-07-26T08:35:24.596-07:00The Police in Naya Bharat - Part 2.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Handling civil dissent<br />
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Handling a large-scale demonstration or a mass agitation is always tricky and when public participation is large, police are reluctant to use force in dealing with them. Police usually try to stop the protestors from disturbing public peace or entering a prohibited area by putting up a human-chain and wait patiently for frenzy to abate. The classic example of this tactics relates to the students' protests in the 'Summer of 1968' in Paris when the Prefect of Paris resisted categorical orders of President de Gaulle to re-possess the Sorbonne and Odeon Theatre buildings by force, and ultimately succeeded in getting the buildings vacated without violent confrontation. (Something similar is even now going on in France with Ýellow Vest' protests).Nearer home, this tactics succeded in Bihar a few years back when police allowed the funeral procession of the slain Ranvir Sena chief to pass through to Patna despite some acts of vandalism by the processionists and averted an ugly confrontation. However, such forbearance does not always work and more often than not, police have to use force and the most important question for them is, what quantum of force to use and when. If police use force against dissenters while they are peaceful - as Delhi police did in beating up and chasing out Baba Ramdev and his sleeping followers in the winters of 2013 - they are roundly criticised, and rightly so. If they leave it too late, then situation can easily get out of hand, as happened a few years back in Mathura (Jawahar Bagh) and in Panchkula. So, <b>the requirement is that the officers on the spot judge the situation correctly and apply appropriate force at the right time.</b><br />
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It must be noted that the state of law and order always affects the political fortunes of the ruling elite and this is precisely the reason why the British organised the Indian police as 'civilian army of occupation', as Dr A Gupta described it. In fact, even after Independence, in the name of maintainence of law and order, police has been used by the every ruling party to further its political ends. When Sant Bhindrawale's caravan drove across the Vijay Chowk, flaunting weapons like light-machine-guns (I was a witness to the spectacle), because it was politically expedient, he was given a free passage in the name of not creating a law and order problem. Very recently, we have seen the law and order excuse being used to refuse permission for helicopter to land or to hold an election rally, to serve the interests of the ruling party. Because of the political ramifications, no govt allows the police to use their own judgement in handling a large protest or agitation and issues such directions as suit its politics (or, puts a selected officer in charge of police operations, who is known to understand the ruling party's interests and has no qualms about putting the party's interests above all other considerations).<br />
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The SC directive of 2006 says that the functions of the (proposed) State Safety Commission would include laying down the broad policies and giving directions for the preventive tasks of the police (which includes maintenance of law and order). But for two reasons I believe that this will not be at all helpful in handling large-scale civil dissent aimed at wresting political power, such as JP's movement of 1970s, or destroying the legitimacy of the ruling elite - such as AAP's campaign of 2013-14. The first reason is that the Chief Minister/Home minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Commission will almost certainly hold diametrically opposite views on how much latitude should be given to the dissenters; the judge may not want to be seen as taking sides and so confine himself to spelling out the constitutional provisions and even otherwise, may not be able to give useful suggestions; and the non-political members might have experience of organising agitations but not of controlling them and may well be divided in their sympathies. So, the Commission's directions will only reflect some kind of compromise and it can hardly give clear-cut directions.<br />
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The second reason I have is that since the directions issued by the Commission are quite likely to be rather general and therefore somewhat ambiguous, they might well create doubts in the mind of the officer on the spot as to what exactly he is expected to do and thus cause confusion and hesitation But, the atmosphere during mass protests is highly charged and the smallest incident ( sometimes engineered by an <i>agent provocateur) </i>can give a violent turn to the situation within minutes and so,in order to keep on top of the situation, the officer on spot must be able to think on his feet and act quickly and decisively; if he is beset with doubts, it may cause delay in taking decisions, with fatal consequences.<br />
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For these reasons, I believe that it would be more in consonance with democratic norms if new Police Acts clearly lay down that while maintaining law and order: (1) the police must not place undue restrictions on peaceful civil dissent (the SC has laid down the guidelines); (2)police must maintain, as best as possible, balance between the freedom of expression of dissenters and the rights of others to go about their business without hindrance; and (3) in case of a disturbance, police make all attempts to minimise injuries to dissenters and non-dissenters and minimise damage to private and public property. The Police Acts must also make it clear that in the matter of maintaining of law and order, police shall not be subject to any directions from any quarters but if questions arise about restrictions placed by police on any proposed meeting or demomstration, or if it is alleged that police used excessive force, the complaint shall be enquired into by a committee of social workers of repute,with some experienced police officers acting as assessors, and the report of the committee shall be made public, forthwith. <br />
(To be continued)<br />
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Comments may be posted here, there is no monitoring</div>
Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-59115186358877026922019-06-14T22:35:00.001-07:002019-12-06T23:19:41.361-08:00The Police in Naya Bharat - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The police in Naya Bharat will certainly be expected to be proficient and committed , to be fair and do right to all manners of people, and to be civil in dealing with the 'aam aadmi' and alive to his problems so as to win his cordial cooperation. Also, the Naya Bharat is not expected to take very kindly to malpractices like corruption, manipulation of evidence to implicate innocent persons or to shield the guilty, and torture, nor to brutal use of force when dealing with civil protest.<br />
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Proficiency and Commitment<br />
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Most of the police forces are already making efforts to improve their proficiency and it is expected that GOI will give them full support in terms of training (abroad) and equipment. So, proficiency should not be an issue. But commitment is often a problem because of difficult working conditions, lack of cooperation and carping criticism from the public and a pervading sense of cynicism. It needs, firstly, an attractive goal to bring about commitment. Being an instrument in the hands of the District Magistrate is not a very attractive goal and the new Police Acts should spell out something like 'helping in securing the Constitutional rights of all citizens and promoting fraternity' as a goal-statement. This is of crucial importance because personnel drawn from diverse cultural backgrounds give of their best as a team only when there is convergence on the higher-order goals and values of the organisation. Secondly, it requires good leadership at all levels- a leadership which stands up for principles and which can protect the right-doers, refute unjustified public criticism and show the way to win community support and <i>success</i> - to secure commitment from an over-worked force and keep it from becoming cynical. Also, since police men/women deal with public mostly in adversarial situations, they get mentally stressed and so an 'uncle' is needed who can provide them a shoulder to cry on and give them some sane counsel to ease the stress and keep their minds on the job.If games could be organised at the PSs/Police Lines and locals invited to participate, it could help a good deal in relieving stress and establishing non-adversarial contacts with the local population.<br />
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Being fair and doing right to all manners of people<br />
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Being fair and doing right to all manners of people is one virtue which nobody ascribes to the police.<br />
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When the police is less than fair, it deeply offends the basic sense of justice not only of the sufferer but of everyone who learns of it and causes outrage. It is thus very often the cause of people 'taking law in their own hands' .The story of Pan Singh Tomar is well known - he was a service man and a world-class athlete who turned into a dacoit because police had sided with his father's rival in a land dispute and beaten him up. I once had an occasion to have a heart-to-heart chat with the boss of a private army and he told me "when the police are under the thumbs of your rival and look the other way when your crops are destroyed and your harvest burnt, then what option do you have but to raise your own army. And, when you have an army, how do you feed the men unless you allow them to loot/extort money from others ( preferably the supporters of your rival)".<br />
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Being fair all the time is not, however, very easy for the police. Rich and powerful persons constantly try to bend the police their way. They are quick to spot and to exploit any weakness in a police person's character - be it greed or lust for power or fear - by offering him/her money, education abroad or a good job for children or a coveted posting through contacts in the government etc. They do not hesitate to threaten him/her either - with transfer to a non-consequential post or even suspension if he/she does not do what he/she is told (or is unable to anticipate what the powers-that-be would expect ). Police being a disciplined force, very often it is a senior who is targeted and he/she is expected to make the subordinate officers comply. It has to be noted that there is no restriction on govt offering post-retirement jobs to senior officers ( and even the SC directive does not propose any such restriction ), which is a very powerful tool in the hands of the governments to make senior officers compliant. . <b>Granting security of tenure or other kinds of immunity to officers does not, therefore, change the situation - if an officer is greedy, lusts for power, or is fearful, then he/she invariably gives in. What is necessary is that people of weak character are filtered out at the recruitment stage, those who manage to get in are spotted and discharged during the probationary period, and that all persons in service - particularly those who are in line for high positions- are watched for any weakness of character and removed before they cause much grief to the people and bring discredit to the police.</b><br />
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Character assessment at recruitment stage<br />
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Let me begin with recruitment. All recruitment is now based on written examinations and physical tests. In 1970s rudimentary psychological tests were started for subordinate ranks and it was expected that they would be refined over time. But when senior officers found that these tests barred the entry of persons whom they favoured, they started denigrating the tests instead of working to refine them and now the tests have become quite inconsequential. I think the BPR&D, which had initiated the project back then, should undertake a study to determine whether the results of the psychological tests held over the years corresponded with the character of the officer as manifested during the years in service, and refine the tests so that persons who are unconscionably greedy, fearful, or lusting for power can be identified with a reasonable degree of certainty and kept out of the police. It should not really matter if a few deserving candidates fail these tests because these candidates can always find alternative employment but no candidate with weak character should be allowed in, because he/she could cause grief to hundreds of people and bring discredit to the police before he/she is caught out. For officers of the rank of SI and above, leadership qualities are absolutely necessary and BPR&d must devise tests similar to the tests used in the Army ( which have been found to be satisfactory by the Army ) so that only candidates who have the potential to become good leaders are recruited at these levels.<br />
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Character building and assessment during training<br />
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A person who joins a new service and goes for induction training is impressionable, no matter what his age and previous work-experience are. Of course what values he/she takes away from this training primarily depends on the quality of instructors. Therefore, it is imperative that only persons of impeccable character are posted to training institutions. Since no trainer can describe all kinds of situations that can arise in future and tell the trainees what is to be done in every situation, the training schedule must maximize interactions between the trainees and the trainers in all kinds of formal and informal situations so that the trainees may imbibe the trainers' values by osmosis. ( Still, how long the impressions last would depend upon work- environment in the field and intrinsic character of the trainee ). The trainers must also be trained to observe the manifestations of character-traits during games, during handling of mess-servants by trainees, and behaviour at informal parties etc and to counsel the trainees suitably. If a trainer finds that his/her counselling has had no effect on a particular trainee then he/she should consult with other trainers and if nothing works out, make a note in the confidential report of the trainee so that the SP of the district where that particular trainee goes for practical training could keep an eye on the trainee and move for his/her discharge from service, if the weakness in character is confirmed.<br />
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Character assessment during service<br />
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Time was when ACR was also known as Character Report and reporting/reviewing officers were expected to give remarks on the character of all their subordinates. But, some officers adversely affected by such remarks challenged them in the courts and the courts struck them down as they were found to be 'subjective'. So, new procedures were devised for recording remarks about character but in the process, the procedure has become so tedious that now nobody likes to take the trouble of recording anything adverse. If one were to look at the ACRs of officials who have been convicted for possession of assets disproportionate to their income, one would not find any adverse remarks about their integrity during the period under review- when they were amassing illegitimate wealth- although it is well nigh impossible that their superiors had no knowledge of their nefarious activities.<br />
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Since despite all the advances made in psychometrics, there is no method of assessing objectively the soft traits of character and since 'subjective' remarks are not acceptable to the courts, the question arises whether, looking to the importance of character in police, character assessment should be introduced now, even at the risk of causing damage to careers of some officers, or whether to wait (indefinitely) for some objective method to be evolved.<br />
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I am firmly of the opinion that we should immediately start a flagging system wherein an officer who comes to know of any incident which indicates that a subordinate (whose ACR he initiates ) is financially or intellectually corrupt ( e.g., suppresses honest views which are contrary to the pet beliefs of the boss ),or is too fearful ( sycophancy is a clear sign of being a fearful person) or lusts for power, he must immediately send a detailed confidential report to his superior ( i.e, the reviewing officer of the officer in question). If the reviewing officer finds that there is objective substance in the report, he should verify the facts for himself, call for an explanation from the subordinate, counsel him suitably and forward the report to the accepting authority. The accepting authority should satisfy himself that the correct procedure has been followed and then make a 'tentative' note in the ACR file which <i>must not</i> be taken into account when considering the subordinate's posting or promotion, but if the same weakness is reported again - particularly if it is reported by a different officer - then a 'pucca' entry should be made which must be taken into consideration when deciding whether to retire him compulsorily or to give him an innocuous posting (with advice to his superior to keep a watch).<br />
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Being civil and community relations<br />
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Being civil to the 'aam aadmi' is something which is impressed on all recruits in all training institutions and there is absolutely no excuse for any police officer to misbehave with any member of the public and senior officers must deal very severely with any subordinate found guilty of it. Also, as already mentioned, police deal with public mostly in adversarial situations and these 'encounters' give rise to many complaints. So, it is suggested that the traffic staff and the beat staff should be required to wear body-cameras which would discourage any police officer from being uncivil and also help him/her to clear his/her name, should a false complaint be made against him/her.<br />
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With a view to improve community relations, many police forces have started 'community policing' programmes, with good results; such programmes should be expanded. The much-in-demand service like 'Dial 100 for Police' should be strengthened by way of more training to the personnel and more equipment (specially videographic equipment), and expanded to cover all towns and the larger villages. Police must invest more resources in search for missing children (and young girls) and in sending vagrant children into care. If the police organise games for young adults and play with them, it could reduce their mental stress and also the problem of drug-abuse by the young (and save police future headache) , help the youngsters to imbibe sportsmanship (and reduce street brawls) and sometimes, establish a flow of reliable information about criminal activities. The senior officers must spend more time in the countryside and meet village panchayat members as well as retired govt servants and professonals living and working in the area to know the problems and the aspirations of the people of the area. The senior officers must also accept that the fact of corruption, manipulation of evidence and torture being so common, is an indication that routine supervision is not all that effective and they should therefore invest much more time and energy in enquiries into complaints against their subordinates. ( I have already written on this topic and readers are requested to see my blog titled 'Why bother with Complaints' at policeguru.blogspot.in ). <br />
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The National Police Commission had recommended that all Police working should be open, barring four areas (named by the Commission). This is all the more necessary in Naya Bharat where people must be able to monitor police work and express their doubts, without interfering with any police operation. In other words, <b>people must have the right to ask police questions and to expose suspected malfeasance, to bring it to the notice of senior officers and expose it in the media , if they are not satisfied with the action taken by the officers, and a machinery must be evolved to enable such monitoring without interference.</b> (I have already written about it in my blog titled 'Citizen's monitoring of the police' and readers are requested to see it, at the same site).<br />
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Corruption<br />
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Corruption is deeply rooted in the police and it would require determined efforts over a long period of time to curb it.<br />
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It is common knowledge that when a person goes to a PS to lodge a report or to apply for some permission or a NOC, he/she is kept waiting for long hours and softened up to part with money to ensure that the report is correctly recorded or the issuance of the permission or NOC is expedited. To put a check on this practice, I suggest that every PS should be covered by CCTVs in such a way that all comings, goings, and waitings are recorded. This measure could discourage this type of corruption; additionally, if a <i>neta</i> creates a ruckus in the PS over an arrest or challan, proof would be available to prosecute him.<br />
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Sometimes a character certificate or licence is delayed by the police in order to extract a bribe. I strongly recommend that every officer should look at the date of application before heshe signs any such document, in order to ascertain if it has taken an unconscionably long time to process the application and whether some applications are cleared quickly ( in lieu of bribes ) while others are delayed, which must be treated as suspicious conduct and the erring staff removed. Sometimes, some significant papers are reported missing and then found after some time: this should also be treated as suspicious conduct.<br />
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<b>Since a police person must be, like Caesar's wife, above suspicion, the new Police Act must make a provision for removing from service a police person for </b><i><b>suspicious conduct,</b> </i>which would also include habitually associating with a criminal. This could check the practice of a police person lurking in the background and a private person charging someone with some violation and extorting money in name of the police.<br />
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Manipulation of Evidence<br />
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The fabrication of evidence to implicate some innocent person or suppression/ destruction of evidence in order to shield a guilty party is most despicable and any officer found guilty of it should be removed forthwith from service . To reduce the chances of such manipulation, I suggest that every investigating officer should be required to wear body-camera. In addition, the whole process of search and recovery must be videographed to show clearly what object was found and where as also the positions of the search witnesses, the owner of the premises, and the accused (if in custody).<br />
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Torture<br />
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There is a common belief that third-degree is integral to police investigation. As a SP, I had banned its use and followed it up by awarding punishments to those who defied my ban. Within weeks of it, many lawyers met the District and Sessions Judge and urged him to get it lifted. The Judge, with whom I had good personal relations, talked to me over a game and asked how would police catch dacoits ( it was a dacoity-infested district) with such restrictions !!! There was a lawyer who was friendly and supported my efforts to keep a check on police malpractices. By chance, he became a MLA. At about the same time, the post of Circle Inspector of his area fell vacant and I posted one of my cleanest officers there. Imagine my surprise when he came to me a few days later and, presuming upon my friendliness, requested me to change the CI. When I expressed my surprise, he said that the CI is a saintly man, fit to be put in a temple but he cannot deal 'properly' with criminals !! In his book 'Consumerism, Crime and Corruption' Justice (retd) MG Chitkara says, citing an ET report, that a former Chief Justice of India and incumbent Chairman, NHRC told a gathering of judicial officers "In certain cases third-degree treatment to prisoners was necessary part of interrogatory procedures, but it should be employed only to an extentt".<br />
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I am sure every police officer knows from experience that if suspects are not roughed up, there is every possibility that police would be accused of being mixed up with criminals. I am also aware that police are always under pressure to work out crimes and people don't care how. The constraints placed by the Criminal Procedure Code, however, make their task difficult, so much so that the National Police Commission had to say (8th report) " As yet, it is not clear to any policeman how he can investigate a case of dacoity in a perfectly legal manner and yet secure a conviction...the same is true of a number of offences." But I still hold that third-degree is not a good tool of investigation. There have been cases galore wherein someone has made a false confession - whether under duress or out of fear of duress - and derailed investigation. There was this case of murder where a person sleeping next to the murdered man had confessed to the crime. When I questioned him about it, he gave a fairly detailed account but because he did not have any motive and because of his body language, I was not convinced and I spent nearly two hours to make him confess that his original confession was false and he had made it only to avoid torture at the hands of the police !! (Fortunately, we got the right man soon after and secured a conviction) So, in any case, third-degree must not be the first resort in any investigation (as being practised now).<br />
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We have to recognise that third-degree is not an indispensable tool of investigation but it is an indispensable tool of corruption and what is required for effective functioning of the police is a review of the legal difficulties of the police as recommended by the NPC, particularly the difficulties involved in persuading (without coercion in any form) witnesses and suspects to share the whole truth. Since this would affect the entire population, such a review cannot be done between the govt and the lawmakers alone and I suggest that the Union govt organise a whole series of in-depth discussions across the country between police officers, lawyers, judges, jail officials, rights-activists, and law-makers coming from high-crime areas, to arrive at a balanced solution.<br />
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For the present, I suggest that one or two rooms should be earmarked in every PS for interrogations and they should be fitted with CCTVs in such a way that every word, every gesture, every facial expression of the interrogator and the interrogatee should be faithfully recorded and it should be mandated that there would be no questioning outside these rooms. This arrangement should dissuade IOs from crossing the line in interrogations. I expect that this would also dissuade witnesses from going back on their statements and perjuring themselves in the court. Maybe, in ( a long, long ) course of time, this arrangement would also convince the lawmakers to repeal sec 25 of the Evidence Act.<br />
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You can comment directly, there is no monitoring (To be continued)<br />
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The police in Naya Bharat will certainly be expected to br proficient and committed, impartial and fair to all manners of people,and be civil to the common man and alive to his concerns so as to win his cordial cooperation. The Naya Bharat will also not look very kindly upon police malpractices which have become common, such as corruption, manipulating evidence to implicate some innocent person or to shield the guilty, and torture.<br />
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Proficiency and Commitment<br />
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Most of the police forces are already taking steps to improve proficiency and the GOI is sure to help them generously in matters of training (abroad) and equipment, so this should not be an issue. But commitment in the midst of long working hours and lack of rest, constant carping criticism from media and the general public, and the prevailing atmosphere of cynicism will need, firstly, an attractive goal to relate to. Being 'an instrument in the hands of the district magistrate' is hardly a goal which one can relate to and the new police must be given a more attractive goal such as 'helping all the citizens to enjoy their constitutional rights'. Secondly, there must be good leadership which would shield the right-doers from the wrath of powerful people ( when their undue demands are denied ) and agiinst machinations of the wicked, refute unjustified criticism quickly and effectively, and show the way to winning respect and cooperation from the community, and success. Since police deal with the people mostly in adversarial situations, the daily rub with the public produces a lot of stress; so there should be an ' uncle ' in the proximity who can provide the police man/woman a shoulder to cry on and offer sane advice.<br />
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Being fair to all<br />
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Being fair is not a quality that is ascribed to the police.<br />
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Being fair to all is not easy for police because powerful people constantly try to bend police their way and those in power never hesitate to threaten a police man/woman who denies their demands with tranfer to an insignificant post or suspension.<br />
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., or is abusing power, he must send a confidential report immediately to his superior (i.e. the reviewing officer for the subordinate under question). If the reviewing officer finds objective substance in the report, he should verify the facts for himself and then call on the officer in question to explain his conduct and counsel him suitably and finally forward a full report to the accepting officer. The accepting officer should check that the correct procedure has been followed and then enter a 'tentative' remark in the officer's ACR, which <i>must not</i> be considered when deciding upon posting or promotion of the officer. However, if the same character-trait is found again - particularly if it is reported by a different reporting officer - then a 'pucca' remark should be recorded and this must be taken into account when a decision is taken whether to retire him compulsorily or to place him in an innocuous post.<br />
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Relating to public<br />
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As far as I know, every training institution impresses upon trainees the need to be perfectly civil and to have empathy towards all manners of people, particularly those coming from the weaker sections of society. So, there is no excuse for any police officer to be rude or indifferent to anyone who comes to him for help and superior officers must take all complaints of transgression seriously and show no leniency in dealing with the defaulters.<br />
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Winning the cordial cooperation of the public - which should be the aim of every police person at every level - is a different matter. It would firstly require all police actions to be open as far as possible ( as recommended by the National Police Commission ). Then, it would require police officers at SHO and senior levels to take public complaints, particularly complaints against their own subordinates, much more seriously. ( I have already written on this subject and I would request readers to see my blog "Why bother with complaints" dated sept 15, 2016 at policeguru.blogpost.in ). I must emphasise that so long as corruption, manipulation of evidence, and third-degree are not checked, police cannot win trust and cooperation of the people and effective enquiries into complaints are the most effective means to curbing these malpractices.<br />
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Police have already started 'community policing' schemes in several places : these should be expanded. At the same time, provision must be made in law to allow public to monitor the work of the PSs without interfering. In other words,<i> public must have power to monitor police work ( except the matters mentioned by the NPC ), expose suspected malfeasance, and to bring it to the notice of the SP ( and media, if not satisfied with the SP's action ), but NO powers to issue any command. </i> (I have written about it earlier and I request readers to see my blog ', Citizen's monitoring of Police' dated 2nd Feb 2014 at the site mentioned above ). It would also be advisable for police to strengthen much-in-demand service like ' Dial 100 for Police' and reduce response time as much as possible, invest much more time and effort in tracing of missing children, in putting children foung begging into care, and in organising games for deprived children and young adults. They must constantly monitor the social media and TV, and react quickly to any mis-information that might be going viral.<br />
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Corruption<br />
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Corruption is so deeply entrenched that it will take a long time and much deterrmined efforts to curb it. One could go on and on about it but I would like to touch on only a few points which arise everyday .<br />
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Very often, a person who comes to PS to lodge a report or to ask for a NOC is made to wait for long hours and softened up to part with money in order to ensure/expedite action on his application. To curb this type of corruption it is suggested that CCTV cameras should be installed at all PSs so that all comings and goings and waitings at the PS would be on record and if a complaint is made, proof would be readily available, which should discourage this type of corruption. Incidentally, this arrangement would also help police when some <i>neta</i> storms the police station to protest a challan or to get some offender released.Secondly, staff on traffic checking duty or on beat duty, with whom people interact most often, should be required to wear body-cameras so that they would know that there would be a record of their behaviour and would therefore think twice before mis-behaving with the public, and, conversely, should somebody mis-bahave with them, proof of it would be available.<br />
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I would strongly recommend that officers who are authorised to recommend a licence or to sign a permit/NOC/character certificate must invariably check the date of application to see whether there has been any undue delay in processing of the application and whether some applications have been processed more speedily than others ( in lieu of bribes ) and take action against defaulting staff when necessary.<br />
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It is a mere truism to say that third-degree is indispensable for corruption. To curb third-degree, I suggest that a room or two should be earmarked in every PS for interrogation of witnesses and suspects and CCTV cameras be fitted in them in such a way that every gesture and facial expression of the interrogator and the interrogatee is faithfully recorded. This would not only curb third-degree but also allow more experienced interrogators to suggest the line for further questioning, when needed. It would also check the trend of witnesses going back on their statements in court and in (a long, long) course of time, may even persuade law-makers to amend sec 25 of the Evidence Act. The practice of fabricating evidence to implicate innocent persons or suppressing evidence to shield guilty persons is also highly conducive to corruption and is the basis of the widely-held public belief that decent persons should keep away from police. It is the primary duty of SHOs and higher supervisory officers to check it strictly and any failure in this primary duty must lead to most stringent punishment.<br />
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( To be continued )<br />
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Comments can be posted here, there is no monitoring<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-72387267410711838732018-08-17T04:01:00.002-07:002018-09-12T02:54:01.846-07:00 Some Thoughts on Police Reforms <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Police reforms have been constantly in demand. After Independence, all the major States set up Police Commissions and in 1977, a National Police Commission was also set up.These Commissions have made a plethora of recommendations touching every aspect of police work and in 2006, the Supreme Court has also issued many directions for police reforms. However, reforms have remained elusive and people still see police as corrupt, brutal and incompetent. The dominance of politicians over police is certainly one reason for failure of these efforts at reforms but not the only one. I fought off politicians all my serving life and yet I couldn't rid my force of these evils. So, I am of the view that <b>the main reason for the failure of the reform efforts is that the root causes of police malfeasance have never been addressed.</b><br />
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One such cause is the governance-philosophy in respect of police which the British had crafted and which has been continued even after Independence. Under this philosophy, the government expected the (native) Staion House Officer to keep crime and criminals under control, and the (British) District Magistrate and District Superintendent of Police to keep the subordinates from comitting excesses, which were commonplace previously, through strict supervision.<br />
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By all accounts, the police under the Mughal regime preceeding the British was ridden with corruption and torture of suspect in order to extract confession was a common practice. So,when a new protocol for investigation of crimes was laid down through Criminal Procedure Code, Indian Penal Code and thePolice Act - that an arrested person would be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, that no threat or promise would be held out during interrogation,causing hurt in order to extract confession would lead to imprisonment, and that confession made to a police officer would not be admitted in evidence ( except the portion which might have resulted in the discovery of some relevant fact)- it created difficulties for the SHOs. These difficulties were compounded by two structural features of the new police. One was that the strength of the PSs was held down to the minimal. Therefore if, for example, the SHO were investigating a case of dacoity at a distant location and arrested a suspect and sent him away to be produced before a magistrate, he was left with little help in completing his investigations The other was section 7 of the Police Act which provides that a superior officers may ( now, subject to Article 311) at any time dismiss, suspend or reduce any police officer of the subordinate ranks whom they shall <i>think </i> remiss or negligient in the discharge of duty, or unfit for the same. For the short-staffed SHO, it meant that he had to keep his superiors in good humour (in the expectation that his lapses would not be judged too harshly), that consideration of what his superiors might <i>think </i> of his actions was more important than correctness, and that he had to prevent and detect crimes and keep criminals under control, <i>anyhow.</i><b> </b><br />
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There is no doubt in my mind that the practice of detaining suspects without formal arrest was evolved by ingenious native officers in response to these organisational pressures because if one has to draw the truth out of an unwilling witness or suspect without resorting to any threat, promise or torture, it can only be done by sustained (so, necessarily prolonged) questioning in custody, which was now denied. The report of the second Police Commission bears it out that such detention without arrest - which was termed illegal by the Commission - had become widely prevelant by 1902.<br />
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There is also no doubt that British officers were aware of the difficulties being faced by SHOs in effective interrogation of suspects, but they could not do anything to help. However, since prevention and detection of crimes was necessary, it seems the officers adopted a pragmatic course: they left SHOs to their devices during investigations and adopted an ambivalent attitude towards later complaints of torture so long as irrefutable evidence was not provided. This conclusion is borne out by the writings of several British officers of the time which said that complaints of torture were <i>incessant</i> but proof was never forthcoming: Sir Edward Fox, who said that stopping tortures was the <i>raison d'etre </i>of superior officers, found such complaints false because "had there been any truth in them, at least a moitey of them should have been capable of proof ". Even a former Chief Justice wrote that while complaints were many, none was ever proved (DR AGupta). Planting evidence and then 'discovering' it at the instance of confessing accused was a necessary corolary to extorting confessions because confessions were not admissible in evidence, and I imagine that, encouraged by the pragmatism of the superior officers, the native officers took to this device under the benign eyes of the same superiors -in order that criminals could be convicted and put away behind bars.And, the doors were then wide open for corruption.<br />
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Thus, sychophancy,corruption, pre-arrest detention, torture, and planting of evidence were established police practices by the time the British rule ended and the pragmatic approach of ambivalence towards complaints of such irregularities had become the accepted wisdom for supervisory officers. This had the unfortunate result of giving the practitioners of these dubious arts salience within the police organisation so that succeeding generations of policemen have been following in their foot-steps. Since superior police officers of Independant India have not been able to change this , we are where we are in public standing. <br />
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The National Police Commission did mention in its last report that it was impossible for police, working strictly by laws, to secure convictions against dacoits and other criminals. This never received much attention but maybe this holds the key to effective reforms.<br />
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Bhopal:<br />
17.08.2018.<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-24165843884929373972016-09-15T09:30:00.003-07:002019-01-16T21:01:32.631-08:00Why bother with Complaints.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
All police forces publish annual reports which show, among other things, how many complaints were received and how they were disposed off and, although they don't exactly say so, they do convey the sense that all is well. The public perception is, however, quite the contrary and more and more frequently people are resorting to agitations in public places to register their protest against police actions (or lack of it) because they think it is futile to take their complaint to senior officers. But is this reason enough for over-worked police officers to invest more time and energy on public complaints which mostly turn out to be false?<br />
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To find the answer, it would be useful to consider what happens when a true complaint of torture in custody is made, an officer inquires and finds it 'not proved'( not necessarily because he wants to shield the guilty, but because proof is really not forthcoming). The first thing that happens is that the complainant, his family and friends are convinced that the senior officers were complicit in the torture and the public perception that it is futile to take complaints to senior officers gets more firmly entrenched. Secondly, the rogue officer is emboldened and if he has succeeded in working out some crime by using third-degree and gets rewarded for it, use of torture as a tool of investigation gets validated (Justice MG Chitkara has written in his book that an incumbent Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission advised an assembly of judicial officers that use of third-degree is to some extent a part of the investigative process) and the right-doers in the force get demoralised. Thirdly, the other subordinates, who know what all has happened, lose faith in the officer's competence to dig out the truth and lose respect for him, attenuating his moral authority over the subordinates. Fourthly, corruption gets entrenched: we must remember that third-degree is indispensable for extorting bribes and if people do not fear torture at the hands of the police, the police can't make money. Fifthly and most importantly, when new recruits join the police, they find that they have two sets of role-models to choose from. One comprising third-degree specialists, seen as intrepid (willing to dare the law and their own officers to catch them out), public-spirited (as they claim that they torture suspects only to help the victims of crime), relatively professionally successful and highly spoken of in the public, and well-off (on bribes). The other set, comprised of right-doers, is seen as plodders, not very successful professionally , well spoken of in public but considered fit to be put in temples rather than in field , and not so well off (living on their salaries alone). There can be no doubt which set wins the vote of the young minds and thus, <i>it affects</i><i> the character of the whole young generation and, ultimately, the whole force in the long run.</i>The answer to the question posed must, therefore, be an emphatic yes: it is imperative that supervisory officers inquire into complaints against their subordinates, as many as they can handle, and dig out the truth, no matter what it takes in terms of their time and energy.<br />
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There is, however, another factor to be taken into account: nowadays, the mood of the people is such that even the most diligent inquiry may not be acceptable to the people if it ultimately exonerates the accused police officer. Therefore, senior police officers would be well advised to associate a person of repute with their inquiries. If the State Human Rights Commission, the State Women's Commission and the State SC/ST Commission are agreeable, their nominees should be invited to co-chair any inquiry.<br />
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Before closing, I would mention an incident which shows how strongly third-degree methods affect the people. There was a murder and as SP I went to supervise the investigation. On arrival in the village I was met by the Station Officer and the Circle Inspector who told me that a person who had been sleeping near the deceased had confessed to the crime and been taken into custody. So, after spot-inspection, I spoke to the person and he readily confessed to the crime and gave fairly detailed account of it. However, he did not seem to have a motive and his body language made me suspect that he was lying and I began to question him. Finally after about two hours, I was able to persuade him to confess that his original confession was false, that he had nothing to do with the crime and that he had confessed to the crime only to escape third-degree at the hands of the police (although he was adamant till the end that no policeman had suggested this course to him). Luckily, we caught the real culprit soon after and secured a conviction from the court .<br />
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17.10.2016.<br />
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On 14th October, all TV channels showed the PM showering fulsome praise on the military personnel. At the same time they prominently showed the mother of a martyr complaining that police had demanded a bribe to find her son's medal which had been stolen. The next day, papers also said that CM had asked policemen to be paraded so that the culprit could be identified. Watching/reading the news was a painful experience. How one wished that senior police officers had handled her complaint differently!!<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-24616112882485356402014-10-23T03:50:00.002-07:002015-02-23T17:30:10.831-08:00Using local herbs as insecticides<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am staying on a 1-acre farm and growing fruits, flowers, vegetables and spices for my own use. When I started, I had to use very large quantities of insecticides. However, I soon noticed that insects don't attack some plants, such as <i>neem, gajar ghas, </i>ipomoea, custard apple etc. So, I decided to take leaves of all such plants, crush them, soak them in water for some time and use the filtered extract as spray on my plants. I soon discovered that this was very effective way of controlling insects, so much so that I no longer keep any insecticide with me and only very occasionally buy the minimum quantity of an insecticide for use against insects that don't yield to my mixture. This not only saves me money but also guards against ingestion of harmful insecticidal residues.<br />
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I wish the Agricultural Colleges would take up research on the insecticidal properties of these plants which grow as weeds in most fields and inform the farmers how to make use of them and thereby save a lot of money for the farmers and save the general public from harmful effects of residual<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-78167472058323544522014-02-02T04:06:00.000-08:002014-02-02T04:09:15.611-08:00Citizen's Monitoring of the Police<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Kejriwal has claimed that because he has set up a help-line for citizens to register their complaints and to learn how to 'sting' public servants, corruption in Delhi has come down to negligible limits. To the extent that there is substance in this claim, it shows that fear of exposure and subsequent action can deter the corrupt to some extent.<br />
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In this context my suggestion for citizen's monitoring committees at the PSs needs to be re-looked.<br />
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I have suggested that there should be a citizens committee at each Police-Station which can entertain complaints from the people and ask questions of the PS and put the whole matter before senior officers, the govt and the media, if it is not satisfied with the response of the PS. The committee could have, say, seven members, which is a manageable number and which is not likely to be dominated by one party.I have suggested that all elected representatives living in the area should elect the members by a secret ballot so that the committees enjoy the confidence of all elected representatives but need not share their compulsions; that only residents of the area, who are easily accessible to all, should be eligible, so that <i>nobody </i>has difficulty in getting heard; and that all those whom the SC has held ineligible for elections should be ineligible for membership of these committees. I have suggested that the Committees should be statutory, so that police may not take them lightly;that the law itself should make it clear that a committee can ask questions only as a committee and that individual members may not approach the police on their own ( so that there is no possibility of an under-hand deal between a member and the police in any matter), and that it should be absolutely clear that a committee can only ask questions of the PS and convey public concerns to them, but cannot interfere with police work in any way. I have further suggested that superior police officers should be obliged to inquire when the committee so recommends so that their impact is felt, that the inquiring officer should co-opt a nominee of the State Human Rights Commission and/or a nominee of the Women's Commission if a woman is alleged to have been harassed by the police and/or a nominee of the SC&ST Commission if the complainant belongs to SC or ST; and that a SDOP-level officer should be put in charge of each PS so that complaints referred by the committees can be quickly inquired and better leadership and guidance is provided to the PS staff and bad behaviour is nipped in the bud. I have commended the suggestion that PSs should have CCTV cameras so that there is a record of how the PS staff have behaved with complainants, witnesses and suspects and suggested that there should be e-registration of FIR and that the district control room should react immediately to a report of an incident and hand over the case to PS concerned in due course.I have further suggested that govts must simultaneously sanction welfare schemes for the police, which would compensate them for the hazards of service, including inability to devote time to children.<br />
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I don't think any party will oppose legislation to set up citizens' committees; all other suggestions can be put into effect through executive orders, without delay and without much financial outlay.<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-27169711959469137292013-09-05T18:50:00.003-07:002013-09-07T18:43:59.729-07:00If I were the Home Minister - (concl.)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I have now been in the job for some time and I have visited police-stations, police-lines, control-rooms, and police training institutions . I have talked to many persons including trial-judges, lawyers, police officers of all ranks, social workers and some persons who have been cited as prosecution witnesses but have yet to testify as also a few who admit to having resiled from the statement made to the police, while testifying in the court.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">I now understand that the police cannot offer the kind of protection which the people want unless the Criminal Justice System is reformed as a whole. However, I don't say anything in the public because. at present, it will only be dismissed as an apology for the police. I am also convinced that there is an urgent need for a large increase in police strength but I am loth to sanction it until police show some signs of change and until I am satisfied that an increase in police strength will actually benefit the people and will be appreciated by them. However, being a politician, I am also very keen to do somethings that will show the people that I am on the ball.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have noticed that every time the police are seen behaving in an inappropriate manner, a cry goes up to improve their training. So, I tell the DGP to go for a complete overhaul of the police training institutions (including staff) so that police training in the State comes on par with the best in the country. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I know that despite their antipathy, the people do want larger police presence in their areas and quicker police response to incidents. So, I ask the DGP to prepare for it and the next time there is an incident which attracts large public attention, I announce a substantial increase in the number of two-wheeler and four-wheeler patrols. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since registration of FIRs is another hot public issue, I decide that a law officer would be posted in each district to advise SP on legal matters and, particularly, to assist in e-registraton of FIRs<i> ( refer to my blog of 20th Feb '13)</i>.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I persuade the government to strengthen the forensic science laboratories so that investigations are not held up on that account. I also persuade the government to set up a group of experts to examine the feasibility of character-assessment so that unsuitable persons could be screened out from police and other public services at the recruitment stage or during initial training.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As already mentioned, I think that the CJS needs to be holistically reformed and that is possible only if all the stake-holders come on one platform and discuss the issues. So, I organise frequent seminars to facilitate such discussions and I make sure that members of the monitoring committees get a prominent part in them. On my part, I not only point to the delays in trials which amount to denial of justice, but also emphasise that the System must be made witness-centric so that people willingly come forward as witnesses. I forcefully point out that if a witness is intimidated or otherwise induced not to speak the truth at the trial, it leads to perversion of justice and therefore, the persons involved, as also a witness who wilfully perjures himself, must be visited with swift and condign punishment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I now wait for the results (and the next elections).</i></span><br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-24980219021834890302013-08-23T23:06:00.001-07:002014-01-19T15:02:12.506-08:00If I were the Home Minister,,,Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If I were the Home Minister, what would I do about the police?<br />
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Being a politician, I would not be so much concerned about what <i>needs</i> to be done as what the public wants to see done, though I<i> </i>would like to know, and would want the public also to know, why the police problem has remained intractable despite all the efforts that have gone into 'police reforms' in the past 66 years.<br />
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What the public wants, I know, is that the police should be effective and protect its life, property and dignity against all comers, be they ordinary criminals, mafias,<i> netas</i> or terrorists. At the same time, the public wants the police to be non-corrupt, unbiased, and civil and cured of its penchant for fabricating evidence and staging encounters. When I reflect upon it, I conclude that it is necessary to cleanse the police before raising its effectiveness as otherwise the innocent people who are<i> fixed</i> by the police would find it harder to escape.<br />
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I know that there are a few men in public services (including police) who are incorruptible, who will not bend, come what may; there are several who are in the services only for money and power and will not desist from their nefarious activities as long as they remain in service; and the remaining will bend with the breeze: they will refrain from dis-honesty as long as they fear being caught but will make merry when they think they can get away with it. So, in essence, what I need to do is to find a reliable method of identifying the good and the bad so that the good ones can be encouraged, the bad ones weeded out, and the others learn from it. On further reflection, however, I think that given the present state of police morale, reward/punishment to a small number of good/bad men might not be enough to bring the bulk of the force to the path of rectitude: it would also need good leadership at the cutting edge and a general incentive for all the right-doers.<br />
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My first task, then, is to find a reliable method of identifying the good policemen and the bad. I know that I can identify a few, but their numbers can be counted on the fingers. I can ask my party colleagues, but I have seen them fighting for postings and transfers of public servants and I fear that their views might be coloured by their private and political interests. Sometimes, the media highlights cases wherein the roles of some public servants are shown in good/bad light but the numbers are still very small and quite often the media stories are also based on information from 'sources', which could be questionable. So, I turn to the suggestion made in some quarters that citizens' monitoring committees be formed at the police-station level. It seems to me that if a body of public-spirited citizens is empowered to monitor police work at the cutting edge, it will certainly throw up identities of good and bad policemen and put a check on police malpractices, to boot. I consult senior police officers and bureaucrats about it but I find they are not very enthusiastic about the idea. Some are of the view that police cannot work out crimes and control criminals by strictly legal methods and therefore such monitoring will lower the detection rates even further. Since the people want an end to police obduracy and brutality in any case, I over-rule this objection. I also point out that if police have genuine difficulties in bringing criminals to book through legal methods, then these difficulties should be known to the public (which such committees could facilitate) so that there will be a better chance of the difficulties being removed. However, many more officers fear that such committees will inevitably interfere with police work and make it impossible for police to do their job 'without fear or favour'. I think this difficulty can be overcome if we stipulate that a committees will<i> ask questions only</i> <i>as a committee and that no member shall ask any questions on his own</i> and also make it clear that the committee will have the power only to ask questions, to expose suspected malfeasance, and not the power to command. I also think that this measure would be in line with the current upsurge for empowering people and will, therefore, prove to be very popular and so I decide in its favour.<br />
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I realize, of course, that the success of this measure will depend on getting the right persons to serve on the committees and on ensuring that every committee's voice is heard and acted upon.. So, I declare that only permanent residents of the area shall be eligible to serve on these committees and that persons whom the Supreme Court has recently banned from contesting/holding public posts shall be ineligible. To select the members, I lay down that the Sub-Divisional Police Officer shall call all the elected representatives of the people (from village panchayat member to Lok Sabha member) residing in the PS jurisdiction. to a meeting, explain the role and functions of the committee, the rules of eligibility/dis-qualification and then ask each village panchayat to elect, then and there, by secret ballot<b>,</b> one person and one alternate to the committee. After that, the SDPO shall check that the elected persons are eligible and willing to serve on the committee and then announce the committee as constituted. To ensure that the committee's voice is heard and promptly acted upon,I shall lay it down that when a committee is not satisfied with the answers given by the PS, it will report all the facts and its opinion/suspicion to the SP and forward a copy to my office (and to media, if it wants to).To ensure action, I shall also direct that SDPO (or more snior officer,as appropriate) will personally enquire into each such complaint; that he will co-opt a public person of repute in the enquiry; and that he will keep my office informed about the progress of every such enquiry.<br />
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To provide leadership at the PS level (and to cope with the extra work-load of enquiries), I will lay down that a SDPO will be incharge of only one PS so that he will have full opportunity to interact with the men and to guide them as well as to supervise them closely and eliminate chances of fabricating evidence or staging encounters.<br />
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The resultant increase in the number of posts of SDPO, which will necessarily improve the promotion prospects of all subordinate ranks,will be, I am sure, a powerful incentive for all those who wish to work on the right side of law. I would strongly urge the DGP to examine whether more responsibilities cannot be assigned to the constables - who are after all an educated lot -so that they may find their jobs more satisfying. Further,in consultation with senior police officers, I shall sanction all such welfare schemes as would offset the dis-advantages of police service, such as long and irregular hours of work, inability to devote sufficient time to parenting etc<br />
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I expect that all these measures would start producing results within a matter of months and that the prestige and credibility of the police will improve,so that I could turn my attention to making the police much more effective,<i> with full cooperation of the public.</i><br />
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<i>21.1.2014.</i><br />
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Since the number of village <i>panchayats</i> in the jurisdiction of a PS is rather large, it will not be practicable to form monitoring committees with one representative from each <i>panchayat. </i>So, it is suggested that the assembly of people's representatives be asked to elect a committee of, say, 7 members, with an alternate for each.<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-5825425381705343432013-02-20T22:10:00.000-08:002013-03-03T01:24:37.662-08:00e-registration of FIR and other reports/applications/complaintss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Living in a village has given me a good idea of the difficulties faced by the rural population in making themselves heard by the officials who matter, be it registration of FIR or filing of an application for something which they are entitled to or a complaint about non-receipt of some benefit or some service that they are entitled to. Therefore, e-registration of reports/applications/complaints can be a major step in empowerment of the common man, particularly those who live in the remote areas.<br />
A person who needs some official assistance or feels aggrieved on some issue needs, first of all, advice whether he is right to think what he thinks and secondly, if he is right, then, which departmentl to contact. Such advice is not easily available and therefore, the first thing that needs to be done is to nominate and train some people who live in the villages as counsellors: the 'Sarpanch' and the secretary of the village panchayat and the head master and other teachers of the schools in the vicinity would be the natural choices for this job. The second requirement is that all the departments of the govt ( or at least departments like revenue, police,forest, social-welfare, agriculture) should be covered by this scheme and each department should name a nodal officer, who should receive, directly from the applicant or his counsellor, the report/application/complaint, register it, acknowledge it , give it a registration number and forward it to the appropriate official in his department for action. (In the case of Police, the nodal officer should be a law-officer attached to the S.P., and he should direct the SHO to register an FIR in every appropriate case). Thereafter, if there is any query, the nodal officer should find out the status from the official concerned (which would also serve as a reminder to the official) and communicate it to the applicant. This way, it would be possible for a common man to make himself heard and to ascertain what action has been taken in his case, without making expensive and time-consuming trips to the district head-quarters and generally running around in circles.<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1274546275856714468.post-7928594634557144242012-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:002014-01-25T00:43:26.283-08:00Some Thoughts on Police Reforms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Police reforms are in the air again. While I welcome all the reform proposals, I am very sceptical whether the proposed reforms would bring much relief to the common man who expects the police to protect his life, property, and dignity against criminals of all kinds. This is because such protection can only be provided when the whole of the Criminal Justice Systems functions harmoniously and effectively. So, I am really in favour of holistic reform of the CJS which should ultimately enable the ordinarily talented but honest and diligent policeman to catch the criminals - mafia dons, rogue police officers, corrupt tycoons, unscrupulous politicians <i>et al</i> - and get them punished through the due process of law, but with a degree of certainty which would deter the criminals and dis-abuse the young minds of the notion that crime is cool.<br />
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Admittedly, the voices calling for a holistic reform of the CJS are few and faint and one cannot say when such a reform would be undertaken. However, police officers should be thinking how they can ensure that their problems are also taken into account, when the time comes.<br />
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I note that many police officers have had the ears of the Prime Minister/ Chief Minister, but they were unable to reform the system.So, the police were unable to come up to the the public expectation. Similarly, there have been many outstanding officers, who earned great respect from the public, but the force they commanded did not enjoy the same degree of public confidence, the changes introduced by them could not be sustained after their departure, and the public image of the police remained constant. I particularly note that whenever one body has suggested some measure which could enhance police effectiveness, another body has raised doubts whether it would not make police even more oppressive, and because of the negative image of the police, the doubts have always prevailed.So, I conclude that the greatest stumbling block, the root-cause of the police problems, is the distrust of the police, which is enshrined in our procedural laws and etched in the public <i>psyche. </i>Therefore<i>,</i>every police officer who wishes the police to do better, must do everything that he can to dispel this cloud of distrust and make the systemic problems of the police better understood in the public.<br />
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How to put this formula into practice is, of course, the million-dollar question<br />
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Who do we trust? Do we trust someone who is secretive and who gives vague and elusive answers when asked questions? Do we trust someone who has no time to look into our complaints and shows no inclination to understand our difficulties? If an officer hangs around the rich and the powerful and has no time for the ordinary people, can he be trusted to deal fairly with all the cases? Can we repose trust in an organisation which flip-flops on issues of ethical conduct?<br />
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I think the first thing that police must do is to embrace openness, in line with the NPC recommendation that " all police activities, to the extent possible, should be open except for four specific areas...." and in no case should they become a party to cover-up; rather, they should emulate 'Deep Throat' in exposing abuse of power. I am also of the view that advisory committees should be formed for all police-stations and given the right to ask ( as a body, not otherwise ) any questions of the police as also to apprise them of the local concerns. The committees should also be given the right to put any matter (including refusal of information by the P.S.) before the higher authorities and the larger public. In other words, there should be a people's body at the P.S. level with authority to express public concerns and to expose suspected malfeasance, though not the authority to interfere in P.S. work.<br />
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The issue of complaints against police is rather complex. Firstly, we know that some people would go to <i>any</i> length to 'fix' an inconvenient officer; conversely, police officers can be very ingenious in covering-up their misdeeds. So, cursory inquiries are worse than useless and when an inquiry is undertaken, it must be pursued to its logical conclusion. Secondly, in most districts, the volume of complaints is so large that no officer can attend to them in addition to his normal duties. But there is the apprehension that if he ignores a particular complaint and it later turns out to be significant, he could be in trouble. So, there is an effort to <i>somehow</i> dispose off' all the complaints, often leading to mistakes. In my view this difficulty should be formally recognised and the district officers should be trusted to make a wise selection of complaints which would be taken up by them for inquiries,leaving the rest to the courts (if the complainant so desires). Thirdly, since it is the duty of supervisory officers to keep their subordinates on the straight and narrow path, a complaint against a subordinate is, by implication, a complaint against the supervisors also and therefore,it can cause resentment among superior officers. If, however,the supervisory officers could keep their resentment under check and view inquiries as a means to tightening their control over subordinates,they can not only provide relief to many victims of police malfeasance, but also deter other rogues and raise the morale of the right-doers within the police .Fourthly, for a variety of reasons, inquiries conducted by superior officers don't always inspire confidence in public.So,it is suggested that in all sensitive matters, inquiry officers should associate persons of good repute with their inquiries, so that people are convinced of their <i>bona fides.</i><br />
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The company one keeps makes or mars a man's reputation in any walk of life. Being in the eye of the public at all times, police officers should be doubly cautious as to how they cultivate their contacts in the underworld and watch out that they don't spend more time than necessary with the rich and the powerful.<br />
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It is no secret that different officers have different degrees of tolerance for third-degree and bogus evidence and for political interference. This results in variations in standards which confuse both the subordinate officers and the public We have discussed the 'ethical' and the 'practical' aspects of these issues for long enough and we should now pay serious attention to the impact that the inconsistency on these issues has on police credibility. I think it is now time to take a clear stand on these issues and then stand firm in all circumstances.<br />
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9th May, 2013.<br />
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I think recent developments have fully vindicated the value of the NPC recommendation that all police activities should be open to the extent possible and also my suggestion that " in no case should they (police) become party to cover-up; rather they should emulate Deep Throat in exposing abuse of power." I sincerely hope that serving police officers will mull over the issue and finally, commit firmly to some code.<br />
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To my friends who are associated with politics, I would urge that they consider how exposure can be translated into rejection at the hustings. There is an imperative need to make the 'mango-people' understand how these corrupt practices affect <i>their </i> interests and leave them hanging on the crumbs thrown to them by way of electoral sops.<br />
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Prem Dhar Malaviyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06035335975423392517noreply@blogger.com2