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.
Proficiency and Commitment
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 success - 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.
Being fair and doing right to all manners of people
Being fair and doing right to all manners of people is one virtue which nobody ascribes to the police.
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)".
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. . 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.
Character assessment at recruitment stage
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.
Character building and assessment during training
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.
Character assessment during service
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.
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.
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 must not 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).
Being civil and community relations
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.
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 ).
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, 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. (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).
Corruption
Corruption is deeply rooted in the police and it would require determined efforts over a long period of time to curb it.
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 neta creates a ruckus in the PS over an arrest or challan, proof would be available to prosecute him.
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.
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 suspicious conduct, 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.
Manipulation of Evidence
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).
Torture
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".
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).
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.
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.
You can comment directly, there is no monitoring (To be continued)
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.
Proficiency and Commitment
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.
Being fair to all
Being fair is not a quality that is ascribed to the police.
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.
., 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 must not 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.
Relating to public
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.
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.
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, 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 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.
Corruption
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 .
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 neta 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.
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.
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.
( To be continued )
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