Last week, Goa was once again shaken up with the news that 71-year-old Advocate Jayant Prabhu died by suicide and he allegedly named a lady PSI and a constable in his suicide note. The note allegedly held police personnel’s ‘extremely rude’ behaviour responsible for the drastic step taken by him to end his life.
This tragic incident is part of the long list of alleged police excesses that have continued to widen the trust deficit between the police and public. Situation has deteriorated to such an extent that Goa’s DGP had to be shunted out for his alleged misconduct. Police misbehaviour and use of brutal force against hapless citizens are a norm in this country.
That is why, time and again, there has been a call for initiating police reforms to transform the values, culture, policies and practices of police organisations. It envisages police to perform their duties with respect for democratic values, human rights and the rule of law.
The present Indian police system is largely based on the Police act of 1861. State legislation on policing is based on this Act. For Ex- Bombay Police Act, 1951, Kerala police act 1960, Delhi police act 1978.
In 2016, the vigilance department had conducted 55% more inquiries against its own men. India lacks institutional mechanism to complain against the erring police officials.
Police-public relations are rapidly deteriorating as people view the police as corrupt, inefficient, politically partisan and unresponsive. According to a 2018 survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), less than 25% of Indians expressed trust in the police.
Police forces must undergo modernisation and become a professional force for adapting to the evolving needs of society. Equally important is accountability, which acts as a crucial check against abuse of power.
An accountable police force can instill confidence in the mind of the public, only when citizens feel safe and believe that their police adhere to high standards of conduct do they respond with peaceful and law-abiding behaviour.
Till now, six committees, including the National Police Commission, have been set up by the government. These committees made recommendations in favour of major police reforms. These include the Gore Committee on Police Training (1971-73), the Ribeiro Committee on Police Reforms (1998), the Padmanabhaiah Committee on Police Reforms (2000), the Group of Ministers on National Security (2000-01), and the Malimath Committee on Reforms of Criminal Justice System (2001-03).
However, till date, the recommendations of these committees have not seen the light of the day. Neither the politicians nor the bureaucrats want to lose their control over the police.
This enables the executives to reduce the police to mere tools in the hands of political leaders to fulfil their vested interests.
All these challenges require immediate attention of the governments — both at the Centre and the States. Also, the political leadership needs to understand that a crumbling police system will negatively impact upon the security and integrity of the nation. It is time that we freed the police from the clutches of political masters and transformed them.
Police have exhaustive rules in their Model Police Manual consisting of three volumes on how to render service to the citizens. Some of them include: uphold and enforce the law impartially, and to protect life, liberty, property, human rights, and dignity of the members of the public; prevent crimes, and reduce the opportunities for the commission of crimes through their own preventive action; prevent harassment of women and children in public places and public transport amongst others.
While implementation of all major changes would need time, immediate changes in the police approach to the society with a feeling of fairness and not becoming absolute ‘yes man’ to the politicians and bureaucrats Is essential.This has to be projected from top down.
Two things are essential for immediate course correction of the police force. One, take a stand irrespective of personal inconvenience and two, don’t misuse the power. If even 50% of senior police officers remain loyal to their profession and do not violate their code of conduct, things will change.