Zubair Qureshi
Improvement in image and capacity building of the institution of Police is a key initiative to make success out of any reforms made to counter policing issues in the country.
These views were voiced at the first online session on policing issues held Tuesday by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO), under a pilot project of the Police Awam Saath Saath (PASS), in collaboration with the United States Institute of Policy (USIP), with the Parliamentary Working Group of MPAs from Punjab province to introduce reforms in the police department by bringing in modern research mechanisms and making necessary legislation.
The session opened by Syed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director of SSDO presenting police reforms by categorizing them into conceptual, policy and service delivery issues for better understanding and implementation. He explained in detail the constitutional position of policing between federal government and the provinces, the importance of women in policing, evidence-based arrests, mandate-based community policing, as well as the need for digitalization in policing through effective tools.
The session participants noted the foremost obstacle in policing reforms as the imbalance in budgetary allocations between administrative and functional costs had caused negative effects on the reputation and capacity of the police as an institution. They attributed the underperformance of police to the ground reality of the institution being under-equipped and under-resourced.
Besides the lack of concrete data available for investigations and a thorough need for streamlining police force induction procedures in each province, some participants saw a change in mindset of police officials as the first step for better implementation of any reforms.
The parliamentarians strongly voiced their lack of control over the planning and mechanics of such reforms but presented actionable suggestions for implementation at all tiers. They were of the view that crimes against women and children, already on the rise, must be dealt in a more sensitive and victim-friendly fashion. To achieve this, women parliamentarians recommended not only soft skill-focused regular trainings for police officials dealing with such matters by experts trainers but also setting up specialized desks to ease the victims of child and women related crimes in registering their complaints.
Syed Kausar Abbas emphasized the important role of parliamentarians in reforming the police department across the country and assured the addition of their suggestions in the evaluation of the existing laws, police reforms and research methodologies under the project ‘Police and Public Side By Side’.
Dr. Adnan Rafique, Country Head United States Institute for Peace (USIP), presided the session and highlighted the crucial need for “glocalized” reforms for policing in Pakistan in accordance with the needs and contextual dynamics of the country. He appreciated the participants for their valuable inputs and recommendations that are to be made part of the SSDO working paper.
The session was attended by MPAs Ali Haider Gillani, Bushra Anjum Butt, Ishrat Ashraf, Kanwal Pervez, Momina Waheed, Neelum Hayat, Raheela Khadim Hussain, Sohaib Ahmed Bherth, and Uswa Aftab, Saeed Shah.
