Yama: Hi, you know the police
people are like that. With lot of tensions and stress, they work and hence they
do not understand the things better. Corruption has become part of life and
they cannot avoid it. Its shameful to submit but this is the truth.
Nachiketa: Yes I understand all
this and the police is not to be blamed entirely for this. With very pathetic infrastructure and
terrible conditions, these things are bound to happen. Right from the recruitment process the
problems start. Concentration is more on the physical aspects as compared to
the more subtle and important emotional/ mental aspects. Then the qualification
comes. Except for some smart fellows in the organization who are well
qualified, most of the ground level people are only having matriculation or at
the best some graduate degree “passed”. Passing a graduation and seriously
studying the same has a lot of difference. Some smart fellows will not suffice for change
to come. The salary structure is not much attractive and commensurate with the
responsibilities assigned to them. The infrastructure is always with a time lag
with the latest technology. No proper training is given for any newer
provisions of law and crimes.
Training is neither given for
the attitudes.
Yama: Attitude..
Nachiketa: Yes. Police is a
typical organization where you will be exposed to only one part of the society
always. They always are in touch with the criminalized or the black portion of
the society. So, naturally they have a tendency to make preconceived notions,
mores and stereotypes of the people. For example, if a police comes across a
case of bank fraud by the manager for the first time and in the case he finds
that the manager is a culprit. Two more such cases and the next one, even though
the manager may be an innocent person, but the police will develop suspicion
based on the earlier grounds. Its hard for him to be neutral and have a
dispassionate view on the case as the preceding cases have shown that the
managers were actually fraudsters. Similar is with all people who come across
with him. Actually assuming that every sector has some fraction of the people
who are with criminal intentions or say criminals, the fraction will not be
uniform across the spectrum. It differs from area to area, sector to sector and
time to time and so on. But the police believe that every other person coming
to them must belong to that fraction only and hence the dealing will be
uniformly in a negative manner. On continuously looking at these type of things,
they come to believe that society is like that only and every person has some
criminal intentions. Over the time, they come to believe that there was never
other side. Only one side of people and i.e. negative side.
Yama: what is to be done to
avoid this?
Nachiketa: It’s a very tough and
complicated job. Almost all police personnel must be trained in HR management
and how to treat the new case dispassionately. Every case must be observed
objectively and without any prejudice or bias. For this extensive research
should be done and police personnel must be motivated constantly at all levels
right from a constable to the top to handle things properly without any
prejudice.
Yama: But we have so many
reforms…
Nachiketa: Yes we do have
reforms. But more is needed at deeper levels. Not at superficial levels. The
reforms are more oriented towards tenure, remuneration etc. But more than that
the requirement is at the level of mental process and thinking system. Stress is
accumulated at all levels of police staff and hence to remove that adequate
mechanisms on a continuous basis should be provided. A person may be
transferred less frequently with more guaranteed tenures. But this does not
mean that his exposure levels are changed. Its only the location, which gets
changed. So along with those, reforms oriented towards the psychological and
behavioral processes are required. And it does not happen in one day or two. It
is a long and continuous process with feedbacks and improvements inserted from
time to time so as to maintain its effectiveness.
The initial results will also
take time. But done with a proper objective in a long term, will enable a
preventive police to take form in place of curative police structure as of now
we have. As we all know, the criminal laws need a BPR exercise.
Also, their role should be made
clear and so many peripheral duties like verification for passport, etc should
be hived off to be a separate department, for exclusive concentration.
Yama: How to do that?
Nachiketa: We have already
mooted the idea of having a central investigative agency. Let them create a
national database of each and every person, their residence and every other
thing of him. The exercise is a massive one and requires lot of resources at
local as well as central level…this database can be linked to police personnel
also and so that we can have a tracking system of all citizens….sorry… people.
The aforesaid was written in 2009, but I believe it is true today also and hence I am posting the blog.
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