What measures would you like to see to make the Police Forces more accountable to citizens?

Question

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces. How do we insulate policing from such negative political and bureaucratic interferences to make it fully accountable to law and civil society?

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Answer 1

*First of all the corruption has to be stopped in the recruitment.
*secondly the last Sepoy deployed in the street is to be make responsible for any mishappening in his area.
*Thirdly the Area Inspector is to be responsible for his area.
*Similarly it will go up.
But the main thing is that discipline percolates from top to bottom & not from bottom to top.

Answer 2

This is todays advancing world and the police force is undoubtedly serving people to make the citizen's life a comfortable one.It would not have been possible for India to be called a great country if there was no police force.
While there are some honest policemen serving the country there are also some of them who just run behind money.Yes,some policemen are so corrupted that they are seen to serve the best interests of political parties,acting like puppets in the hands of MP'S and MLA'S.They are sometimes involved in murder cases.These policemen also help these leaders in making use of unfair governmental powers.The only reason is that they get handfull of money.
Thus the government should take some measures to prevent corruption in the country.Firstly they should inspect the police force in all the states and dismiss all the police officers along with the leaders who have a black record.
To make the work easier the government should provide Complaint boxes to the citizens.These boxes should be placed at every street of the cities through which the citizens can complain about the corruption of police force in their locality.The government should take action within one week of time.The government should also impose a law on police officers stating that ' if there is a case of robbery etc the police should investigate upon the case within 3 days'.
Every police station should have a camera so that the government can view all the events taking place in the police station.This will also prevent bribery.
If these things are practised by the government then India may prevent atleast 90% of it's corruption and the police forces will be more accountable to citizens.

Answer 3

First and foremost - revise the pay. A member of the police, no matter how lowly in rank, has the basic task of interacting with the raw elements of the society. This is not an enviable job and also has the potential risk of losing life and limb. As such, we need to understand the risk that these people are taking and need to pay them accordingly. Also have a good support mechanism in place. If the personnel has suffered injury or death in the course of action, his family members should be supported till the point where they can stand on their own. When the pay itself is good, it reduces the incentive for taking bribes to a great extent. Taking bribes however, is a different malady altogether and needs a different treatment.

Make the force feel that they are part of the socitey. An image makeover from within and outside is required. The public needs to feel that police is present to protect them and not to harrass them. This would mean launching a wide scale of public friendly initiatives.
A person approaching a police station to file a complaint should be treated with as much respect as accorded by a bank to its customer. A citizen should not be treated shabbily nor should he be made to run around from pillar to post for paperwork. Cut all the red tape. While it is not possible for the police alone to bring about a resolution to a complaint (since there are so many other factors involved), the very fact that the police force has a people friendly face, would bring about a great confidence in the public. This would also result in many people reporting more complaints. Previously these complaints would have gone unreported because, a person would have thought that it would not be worth the hassle.

Internally too, the members of the police need to be reminded that their task is to serve the public and not lord over them. A policeman should not utilise his role to get freebies from anybody, be it the lowly shop owner or the swanky restaurant nearby. This itself would greatly restore the confidence of the public. They would realise that the police does not misuse its power.

Make the force accountable. Offenders within the force should be dealt with strictly. If a member of the public has been unjustly treated by a member of the force, action should be taken against the erring official. The action taken should also be made public but the name of the erring official should be withheld. The last point is very relevant because, unless the public knows, that the police does not take things against erring officers lightly, it would not do much to build their confidence.

Like any serious entity in the corporate sector, the police should also have several personality and self development programs. These programs should focus on adding skill sets to the force and boosting their confidence. Programs should also focus mental development and stress removal. Like any other entity, the police is also sometimes the most overworked and stressed out. Every major city should have at least one psychologist whom the personnel can approach with discretion and get advice on stress relief.

Instill a sense of pride. After implementing all the above said measures, when the police force itself feels good about what it is doing, it will not be surprising that it will go out of its way to serve the public rather than the self serving politicians.

Answer 4

Police should work in the military fashion like the fitness through daily excercise, dicipline / administration and they should be relocated frequently so that the corruption can be minimsed which is happenning more due to local channels.
Un necessary VIP duty disturbing a lot and resulting shortage of police men for the routine work.
Police observations / findings should be treated as a base in the court also, here criminals has the right to change the statement in the court which de moralise the police and whole efforts are drained out which no body counts, except to blame the police.
There shuold be a separate ministry for the police and its wel fare because home ministry is a very big portfolio and police get the least priority.
Police should not do the helmet and pollution checking because such type of certificates can be prepared just in few rupees so police is taking bribes only and most of the checkings are happening at the end of the month. If the citizen dont realise the importance why police is doing just checking and taking 50.00 per offender they should have the right to freeze the license or better to utilise the time in resolving the pending cases.

Answer 5

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces. How do we insulate policing from such negative political and bureaucratic interferences to make it fully accountable to law and civil society?


[As described above not all the policemen know that what are they meant for n what s there duty ] The day they will know that they will gain appretiation in the society

Answer 6

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces. How do we insulate policing from such negative political and bureaucratic interferences to make it fully accountable to law and civil society?

Answer 7

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces.

Answer 8

Hi ther,
I definitely feel there is a need to improve the law and order
situation in our country and that could be only achieved if the Police force works with utmost diligence to the society.

There are a few things i would like to point out:

1. I believe the salary of the policemen is inadequate
Considering the rise in price of all commodities in our society one cannot live with the meagre amount of money the government provides. Raising their salary to a decent level may refrain some of them from taking bribes.

2. The policemen/women and their family should be insured
They are the one risking their lives to catch a culprit and in that process they might lose their life. Does the government do anything for such people? If there is a SENSE OF SECURITY among the police then the police might want to
plunge in and take risks.

3. Making the police independent in certain areas of administration
Why does the government has to interfere in the proceedings of the police(atleast in some areas). If a policemen/women is posted in a place and he/she performs well in his/her duties then he is transferred or removed from the post.
This should not happen. If such incidents can be taken care of then the police will not be afraid to take action.

4. Interaction of the Police and the Public
Most of the time Police cannot perform justice just because the public does not co-operate with them. Probably the people are afraid that they will unnecessarily get involved in the case. If there is an interaction with the public( say every 2 months) and key issues plagueing the society can be addressed, then this sense of fear from the public can be removed.

5. Simply changing the Police sysem won't do
The police in some way or the other gets involved with the politicians and the bueraucracy. So the whole system has to change inorder for the police to perform their duties well.

Afterall they are human beings having a family to look after, So its natural that they will fall into temptations.

5.Stop paying bribes to get into the police
I know a lot of them who paid bribes to get into the police. These people will not have any sense of commitment to the public or the society. Selection should be based on Merit and their ability to understand and solve problems.

6. Educate our children
Atleast include a curriculam in the syllabus making them understand what the law is and how it can help them. And also the value of life. This might ensure that atleast our forthcoming generations might wish to join the Police and serve the people.

JAI HIND

Answer 9

What measures would you like to see to make the Police Forces more accountable to citizens?


Today, the Indian police is regarded (by its own people) as the most unreliable force/organization in the country be it the Mumbai Police or the Delhi Police. They are seen as a group of people who officially earn a hand to mouth but practically spend a lavish lifestyle. This may not be true with all the officers but a few rotten fish make the pond be called dirty.

The main reason why the police force is considered a reliable stand is that in the eyes of the common man it is the country’s most corrupt organization.

“WHO WILL GUARD THE GUARDS”

The reason why these corrupts officers because the ones who enforce laws are not answerable to anyone. corruption can be seen everywhere be it the traffic signal or a late night DJ party, be it the Nithari case or the Pandhar case be it the Jessica Lal case or the Matoo case.

“WHAT CAN THE GOVERNMENT DO”

To eradicate the problem of corruption the government should make an ammendement in the constitution by passing a bill that introduces an all powerful ANTI CORRUPTION
ORGANIZATION.To which all officers big or small, powerful or powerless, havaldar or commissioner should be answerable.

“WHAT CAN WE DO”

The root cause of all corruption is the common man who gives away his/her hard earned resource to the corrupt, it is we who gave birth to the ‘Under The Table Concept’. If the government gets serious on this issue the public will follow too.

“MY REQUEST”

My request to the government or Ms. Kiran Bedi is that the above should be taken into notice and some method be taken out so that the common man regains his trust In the police forces before it becomes too late……

Garv Malhotra(14 years)
Class -9
The Mothers International
School

Answer 10

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces. How do we insulate policing from such negative political and bureaucratic interferences to make it fully accountable to law and civil society?

Answer 11

Tragically, the Police force today is seen to serve the best interests of political parties, bureaucrats, businessmen and other such entities. For most police personnel, this is a way of survival. The purpose of police in any society is to maintain law and order and ensure public safety. Policing, like teaching and medicine, has a very intimate connection with social life and social change. Yet, the Police are hardly seen in such terms by citizens. At best, there is a sense of cynicism and at worst, even fear of the Police forces. How do we insulate policing from such negative political and bureaucratic interferences to make it fully accountable to law and civil society?