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Straight line

Baneful delay in adopting new Police Act

Muhammad Nurul Huda
Responsible quarters have expressed premonitions that the long awaited new Police Act may not see the light of the day during the incumbency of the present caretaker government. There is no denying that the Bangladesh Police, as an organisation. can perform well if it is founded on valid organisational principles. The unpleasant truth is that with regard to our police, these principles were ruthlessly violated over the years, resulting in corrupt, inefficient and highly politicized police forces. Consequendy. the police largely turned into agents of the political executive rather than as instruments of a democratic state.
The question is, are we not serious and sincere to ensure that Bangladesh Police perform its duties efficiently and strictly in accordance with law? The alleged delay in enacting a new Police Act would indicate that some quarters are not ready to replace the ruler-driven police by a communitybased outfit by effecting substantial changes including tire institutional mechanism of Public Safety Commission at the national level. We have to ask ourselves as to why efforts for fostering credible police accountability, gender-sensitive policing and operational neutrality are not accorded the due importance.
The high mark of any modem police model is that the law guarantees the independence of chief officers of police. In maintaining the police chiefs responsibility of direction and control, the law places high value on freedom from political control and influence Avhfln,making decisjoj^epnfern-
ing the administration of force and operational command. It is high time to ensure that police operations are no longer subjected to general control and direction from outside the police department.
At this point of time any further delay in enacting a new police act shall mean that we would prefer the continuation of the selective application of law against opponents. whether political or personal at the behest of persons of influence. It would also mean that we want the continued perception of police as agents of party in power, and not as members of an organization publicly maintained to enforce the rule of law.
The question is, can the police of Bangladesh be turned into a symbol of human security without organizationally gearing it towards that end? Is it possible to ensure operational neutrality of police? How can police be made effectively accountable? Can it be transformed into an instrument of law? What steps are needed to insulate the police from partisan political control? Is it possible that the empty political rhetoric of ensuring fair, just and humane dispensation at police stations becomes a reality? What should be done to raise the integrity levels of police? These are some of the critical questions that underpin the vexed police reform debate in Bangladesh.
If the police of Bangladesh are to achieve all these, its first order of business is the enactment of a new Police Act to replace the present archaic legislation enacted in 1861. As it is, the Act is weak in almost all the parameters that must govern democratic police legislation:
(i) The Act has made it easier for others to abuse and misuse the rm B^cc.orgaQizatiQn,Jt.hasbepn
possible for people in positions of power to do so because of the following reasons:
a. The Act gives the government the authority to exercise superintendence over the police, without defining the word superintendence or prescribing some guidelines to ensure that the use of power will be legitimate.
b. The Act does not establish any institutional and other arrangements to insulate the police from undesirable and illegitimate outsidecontrol, pressures and influences.
c. The Act does not recognize the responsibility of the government to establish an efficient and effective police force.
d. The Act does not make it necessary to outline objectives and performance standards, nor does it set up independent mechanisms to monitor and inspect police performance.
(ii) The Act is antiquated in its charter of duties, which is narrow and limited.
(iii) The Act does not mandate the police to function as a professional andservice-o r i e n t e d organisation.
(iv) The Act is not in consonance with the requirements of democratic policing. These requirements insist on the existence of a police force that:
a. is subject to the rule of law, rather than the whims of the party in power;
b. can intervene in the life of citizens only under limited and controlled circumstances; and c. is publicity accountable.
We have to remember that an inefficient and outmoded adminis -trative legacy is undermining reform supported by scores of national and international expert ।(missions. Fo^too, lopg th? basic
functioning of police has remained unchanged. What is needed is to make improving the quality of law enforcement a permanent and integral part of the national agenda, regardless of which party is in power.
Without focusing our debate on the organizational inadequacies, it seems pointless to spend time on the rhetoric of police reform. If the organization designed to carry out reform is broken, the rhetoric alone won't take us anywhere. If the vehicle won't move, it hardly matters which direction we point it; we won't get there. Today, the core issue is not so much what police does, but why it does what it does. It is time to make the police work for the people.
The present police setup needs to be replaced by an arrangement that strives to be customer-friendly. Let there be a clear, shared sense of mission. Let there be clearly understood organisational goals. Let citizens be part of the police decision-making process. Let the police command and control structures fully rest with the police chiefs. Let the police leadership be empowered to effectively control their erring subordinates. Let there be credible and effective mechanisms for policing the police, no euphemistic accountability structures. Let the Police Act 1861 be replaced with new legislation that embraces all the essential elements of reinvention, based on the best models available in the world.
The enactment of a new police act will not change the present scenario overnight. However, the first step as indicated hereinbefore has to be taken, sooner rather than later.
Muhammad Nurul Huda is a columnist of The Daily mm* ■: ■lid-./
***Let citizens be part of the police decision-making process. Let the police command and control structures fully rest with the police chiefs. Let the police leadership be empowered to effectively control their erring subordinates. Let there be credible and effective mechanisms for policing the police, no euphemistic accountability structures.***