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Why the Indian police needs leadership more than reforms

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Sanjiv Krishan Sood
Sanjiv Krishan SoodOct 18, 2017 | 20:25

Why the Indian police needs leadership more than reforms

Why police leadership reforms are required more than police reforms

The quality of leadership is critical to the success of operations undertaken by security forces in combat. It is equally crucial to the police so as to give them a people-friendly face. The leadership qualities exhibited by Border Security Force (BSF) officers — when the Srinagar BSF camp recently came under attack and the forces neutralised three militants — are worth emulating. The forces must lead from the front not only during combat, but also in ensuring combat preparedness of troops.

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Unlike other fidayeen attacks, the alert sentries eliminated one militant in the first few minutes. Another was neutralised within the first hour and the third a little later. The young company commander on the spot not only guided and supervised his troops but also coordinated with the frontier headquarters located few kilometres away. Two BSF DIGs of the frontier headquarters, in remarkable display of alacrity and coordination, quickly mobilised the Quick Reaction Team (QRT) to face off with the last surviving militant. The success of the operation can be attributed to drills by unit officers.

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Panchkula violence was a policing disaster. Photo: PTI

Contrast the above with the leadership on display when UP Police ordered a midnight lathi-charge at BHU on September 23, or the handling of incidents at Panchukula by the Haryana Police in the aftermath of the conviction of "rapist baba" Ram Rahim Singh — this incident marks a dubious hat-trick of inaptitude and lack of professionalism displayed by them during recent past considering their response to the Jat agitation and the Baba Rampal unrest.

Such was the enormity of inaptitude that it would take considerable effort for the police to recover from ignominy. Leadership was conspicuous by its absence from the scene and junior subordinate officers were abandoned to handle situations way beyond their mental and legal capabilities.

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Instances of failure of police leadership far outnumber the achievements. The common thread commanding the police personnel of different states is the pool of Indian Police Service officers. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the foremost cause of the sorry state of policing in India is the incompetence of leadership provided by these "Indian Police Service" officers. Poor leadership and the willing acquiescence to political masters is the main cause of the worsening law and order situation in many parts of the country.

Leadership also fails to provide adequate guidance to subordinates in other fields related to policing, for example, the lack of insight of most of them about investigative techniques is reflected in the poor quality investigation of even important cases, as exemplified in the Aarushi Talwar murder case and many others, reflected in rapidly falling conviction rate from 62.7 in 1974 to 40.2 in 2013.

Public utterances like "Aarushi bhi utni corrupt thi jitney uske maan baap" by a senior police officer handling the case reek of the intellectual deficiency to shoulder important responsibility in the police hierarchy.

Rampant corruption among these leaders is the main reason for the malady spreading to an extent where "hafta" is considered a rightful due. A police constable coming to carry out verification for say passport applicants considers it to be his right to some "chai pani". A DCP of Delhi Police is said to have amassed disproportionate assets worth a few hundred crores. D Roopa, DIG prisons, Karnataka has alleged undue favours to convict "Sasikala" by one of her seniors courtesy illegal gratification.

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Two former chiefs of CBI are in the dock for corruption/collusion with criminals.

As if that was not enough, we have a case of another police officer being stripped of the gallantry medal awarded to him some 15 years ago as it has been revealed now that he had faked the encounter.

A caveat needs to be added here. There are some upright and outstanding leaders too amongst the IPS. I have had occasion to work with three such outstanding leaders, namely Chaman Lal of MP cadre, EN Rammohan of Assam cadre and S Ramakrishnan of Bengal cadre. Many others and I consider them our role models. But such leaders are too few to be able to make a difference to set the system to rights.

The apologists for the inefficiency of the police keep citing non-implementation of reforms as dictated by Supreme Court and political interference as reasons for status quo.

It is true that reforms ordered by Supreme Court consequent to the writ petition filed by Prakash Singh, a former IPS officer, have not been implemented by state governments but that surely is not the only reason why the police is unable to perform its duties effectively. On the contrary, it appears that police reforms is a convenient bogey and most of the serving IPS fraternity is not actually interested in having them implemented as the prevalent system affords them opportunities to manipulate it to their advantage.

The careers of IPS officers who are allotted to state cadre run parallel to that of politicians in the areas they police. Thus, both develop affinity and close relations and help each other in times of need. No wonder, therefore, that speculations over who will be the DG of the state police or the SP of a particularly important city rise with the change of a government or the chief minister.

Thus, any change in tenure policy suits neither politicians nor the IPS leadership. Discontent, if any, is easily contained by giving promotion to the aggrieved officer and appointing him to an insignificant post. The practice of creating ex-cadre posts serves this purpose. The police reforms mainly seek to (a) insulate police officers from pressure, (b) transparency in posting, transfers and security of tenure, (c) separation of investigations from law and order and (d) setting up of a police complaints' authority to check the abuse of power.

While the implementation of these points should enhance efficiency, it cannot be the case that absence of implementation in any manner prevents police from carrying out their day-to-day functions and presenting a friendly face to the public.

In a recent article in Indian Express, Prakash Singh, a retired police chief, has contended that the police needs to be free from the clutches of politicians.

Does he imply that police should be an autonomous organisation not answerable to the political executive? That cannot and should not happen.

The police has to be answerable to the executive with certain inherent protections provided for. For example, police officers cannot be removed from service without due process. In so far as insulating police officers from pressures is concerned, how can that be achieved with most of them ever willing to crawl when not even asked to bend? The fixed tenure is something which the government should consider and implement.

But then this is a small impediment that can easily be circumvented as they have done in case of appointing a foreign secretary and changing three home secretaries in a short period of time.

Police officers often contend that the Police act of 1862 is the culprit because it creates a "ruler's police" and not "people's police". The act was brought into force by the British to perpetuate their power and keep the Indian population subjugated. It is further contended that the act had created a "force" whereas it should be defined as a "service". Well, that may be so but since when has the change of a word in any statute started mattering in implementation?

It is correct that the police should function as a service but is this not the role of leadership to ensure this through an appropriately planned training regime and effective implementation. It remains an open secret that only a rare efficient trainer gets a posting to training centres. Most others posted are those who are inefficient or unsuitable for the field.

So, how can the training standards improve?

Work pressure and the burden of public expectations stress out the average police personnel but adequate boots on ground are not available. Diversion for VIP security is one reason, but then many are diverted and misused for personal errands of senior officers and families — this is within the powers of police leaders to rationalise.

The government of India had to order last year that police personnel and other resources be withdrawn from officers who had retired long ago.

Leaders should ensure that funds for police modernisation are gainfully utilised not only on acquiring equipment but also on enhancing policing and investigative skills of the constabulary — a neglected area. Initiative also is needed to improve the living and working conditions of jawans and "thanas".

Government on its part needs to overhaul the selection process of IPS officers which is elitist and based only on the ability to score heavily in the subjects of one's choice. It may be a good move to promote experienced and capable police personnel from within the police ranks through competitive examination rather than selection through open market that involves deployment after a mostly theoretical training that does not prepare them for the rigour of ground realities, leadership, human resource and financial management.

Another important reason for most IPS officers taking little interest in their core profession is the system of every one among them being assured of reaching the level of director general. Even those who are superseded get their seniority restored if they are ultimately cleared for promotion. This breeds inefficiency and needs urgent government review. It is interesting to note that nearly one fourth of all IPS posts are at the level of DG/additional DG.

The police ranks poorly on approval rating and it is upon the leaders to take initiative and self-correct to stem the rot.

Last updated: November 28, 2017 | 15:37
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