The 'Bobbies' endear while we scare
The English experience
In England there is an overriding belief in the value of a liberal democracy based on the rule of law. If the rule of law is to be maintained, then the laws must be enforced comprehensively, impartially and effectively. The official and legitimate law enforcement agency is the police force. The primary role of the police is, therefore, to enforce the law, at the implicit wish of the society, so as to make legitimate government effective. The British tradition of policing is to provide a service as well as to enforce the law. Not all police forces share this position.
The norms of policing in England were, broadly speaking, that the police force should be a body of citizens in uniform, exercising their right to make arrests, be so far as possible non-military in appearance, local in their origins and accountable for their actions. The assumption was that the majority of citizens would obey the majority of laws for the majority of the time, and that police would be operating as far as possible by consent and not by force. The police operated on the strength of renewable and continual consent which they gained by the way they went about their duties. The police was invariably accountable to the law.
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The first purpose of our police force is a political one. The government, rather than the law is supreme; and the major enemy is the so-called political subversive. We rule by authority and not consent. Our police is accountable practically to their superiors rather than the public opinion or law. Duties are well-laid and there is hardly any room for discretion.
In Bangladesh, unfortunately, there is no agreement among the different segments of the society as to what is expected or wanted from our police agency. In such a situation, our policemen indulge in doing things which they ought not to do or in refraining from doing things they ought to do, to favour politicians in power and ask the politicians-in-power to use their influence to obtain choice postings, to avoid being transferred, to mitigate disciplinary sentences or to earn advancement in rank. Thus a necessary basis is provided for a mutually advantageous barter. This give-and-take between the police and the politicians thrives because superintendence and control over the police rests in the political executive.
To satisfy the political executive our policemen indulge in third degree methods and thus not only brutalise themselves but also degrade their own selves to the level of a criminal. This happens despite the fact that the law of the land punishes the practice of third degree with a punishment of 7 to 10 years of imprisonment. Interference with the statutory duties of police like maintenance of public order and investigation of cases are not fortnightly deprecated. It is not realised that statutory provisions must prevail over executive directions.
Factors causing aberration
The standard of recruitment in police has sharply declined over the years and many undeserving candidates have managed to gain entry through unfair means. Such appointees never hesitate to deviate from the expected norms of behaviour.
Training, specially, of the lower ranks, has been sadly neglected and there is a distinct lack of emphasis on various aspects of behavioural change. There is excessive stress on discipline and subordination and this orientation gets reflected in policemen's behaviour vis-a-vis the public.
Rising public expectations in an independent polity and the unsatisfactory performance of other civic agencies have abnormally increased the workload of over-worked policemen. The long and irregular working hours create stresses and adversely change policemen's outlook.
Even as they are burdened with unjustified load of duties, policemen continue to remain equated with unskilled labours and remunerations are not commensurate with the job demands.
Police functioning has often been hamstrung by various constraints inherent in the legal codes enacted more than a century ago. However, apart from sporadic window-dressing, no serious attempt has ever been made to usher in effective legal and administrative reforms.
The remedy
It is high time that the police in Bangladesh get what is deservedly theirs. Their being equated with unskilled labour is untenable and ludicrous. The government must seriously consider revising the pay scales of the police commensurate with the phenomenal workload which they are enjoined to grapple with.
Police modernisation scheme should be area of high priority with more emphasis on training entailing attitudinal changes as against procurement of lethal weapons and fighting gears. Equipping policemen to adequately face the multifarious challenges should not be neglected. The tendency to slap financial fetters and bureaucratic bottlenecks in police matters must make way for a more positive approach.
Political interference in police functioning should be minimised by bringing about the necessary changes in political ethics. The code of conduct for legislators should be meticulously drafted keeping in view the gigantic scope and extent of political interference in police working. Similarly, a 'Privilege Committee' should be in place comprising retired judges, police officers and civil servants with adequate statutory powers to insulate honest and upright officials from the excesses of highhanded politicians in their day-to-day functioning.
The proposed National Human Rights Commission can play an important role to protect citizens' liberties against police excesses. Care should be taken not to push 'human rights' to an extreme.
The media could play a more constructive role vis-a-vis police by highlighting the cause and effect syndrome through investigative journalism, when mishaps of bigger dimension occur. While all misdeeds of police should be unhesitatingly exposed, the Pavlovian reflex to criticise the police at the slightest chance should be scrupulously avoided.
The need to eschew physical coercion by simultaneously making available better psychological methods evolved by the science of criminology will definitely cut much ice. The provision of scientific aids to investigation will sensitise all ranks in the desired way.
Corruption in the police should be dealt with an iron hand. All complaints of corruption should be promptly investigated and appropriate action initiated irrespective of rank.
It is essential in our situation to devise a suitable mechanism to keep close watch on the performance of the police and make it public whenever any wrongful action is observed. This may be done by creating a department of supervision which will ensure that the police use force and authority with restraint and only in unavoidable circumstances.
The need for creating an environment in which policemen can perform their legal duties with a sense of pride and fulfilment without feeling hamstrung either on account of legal hurdles or due to administrative or financial problems, can hardly be over-emphasised. When policing and police are elevated to a pedestal of well-deserved priority in the government's scheme of things and the necessary training and orientation is imparted to the rank and file of police forces, then aberrations in police behaviour can be progressively lessened and the police image in public perception will change sooner for the better.
That statutory power given to the police by the parliament cannot be taken away by a so-called executive direction in derogation of the law should be appreciated by the political executive. In other words, statutory provisions must prevail over executive instructions. Therefore, the government must not give directions or orders for performance of police duty in a manner inconsistent with specific statutory provisions.
While disciplining policemen for wrong action the department should be demonstrably hard on those who avoid taking action. Police inaction is unmistakably an image-shattering factor and this has become an integral part of Bangladesh's contemporary police culture.
With the anticipated separation of the judiciary from the executive, it may be possible to remove functions of investigation and prosecution from the control of the political executive and make the organ charged with such functions as autonomous as the Comptroller and Auditor General. If our problems of law and order and disciplining the police can be substantially solved by making radical conceptual and structural changes in the set-up, prudence warrants that they be boldly inducted without any hitch and without any further loss of time. Mere tinkering with the problem will not do.