Straight Line
Lawman and lure of lucre
THE suspension of an assistant superintendent of police on charges of stealing a Thai woman's mobile telephone at the airport astonishes many and puts many enforcement practitioners to shame. Such incident, perhaps, also points to the necessity of some introspection and soul searching to find out why manifest criminal action by higher level functionaries are disturbingly on the increase.
One should be concerned to know as to what has gone wrong in motivating otherwise decent educated folks about the supreme necessity of maintaining integrity in public service. Is the recruitment process and training regime in need of large-scale sanitisation?
The act of robbery by a similarly placed official in the not-too-distant past followed by this despicable theft should be sufficient to cause justifiable worries in the corridors of public responsibility.
One may wonder how come that the criminal acts of some black sheep continue to smear the good deeds of scores of painstaking policemen? Is there any truth in the premonition that the bad hats in uniform have not been dealt with an iron hand? Have undesirable elements found their way into police department due to the so-called pressing factors?
Coming to the so-called pressing factors, it would be relevant to point out that the aforementioned criminal officer reportedly belongs to the much maligned 24th BCS batch, whose hurried entry, truncated training and premature posting to field situation under unusual circumstances attracted widespread adverse publicity in the not-too-distant past.
It would be pertinent to recollect that 'The Daily Star' in its lead news of October 23, 2005 reported that half-trained cops were scheduled to report to duty posts for alleged election related assignments and that the same would be realised by shortening the training period of police officers of different ranks.
It was reported then that 200 Assistant Superintendents of Police who were recruited through 24th BCS examination would complete their training after nine months only to meet administrative exigencies.
The question that should bother us is whether there was an unhealthy motive in the recruitment of more than usual number of officials in the penultimate year of a political government.
Such premonition arises because the integrity of recruitment process of public services in the recent past was not above board. And now it has been seen that premature field exposure to a duty post without basic orientation has been dangerously unwholesome.
The accusations of intake of partisan law enforcement officials have complicated an already fearfully polarized public life.
During the period between 1991 and 2006, that is, in the tenure of two political governments, bulk recruitments of managerial level officers were effected despite the reservation of senior professionals in the department.
The demands of the so-called emerging political requirements had to be met. In the process half-baked and ill-trained officials were produced.
Disconcerting news about the unsavoury political influence on several layers of police hierarchy-attracting headlines of national newspapers was no surprise in the recent past. In fact, many senior police officers made specific mention of the pernicious political pressures being exerted on them with regard to appointments, transfer and postings of different ranks.
Such officials had also complained about the entry of undesirable and unsuitable individuals and inappropriate posting violating the usual procedure and disregarding the chain of command.
Reportedly, a district level commander lamented during the past political government that the unbridled political meddling had made the subordinate officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station more powerful than him.
It appears that the political executives across the divide did not realise that the police as an official organ was expected to be the relief-provider. They ensured the intake of undesirable persons in exchange of material favours without appreciating that appointees from a shady deal would turn into bitter and insensitive cops in no time.
Under circumstances as above, it is only natural that bitter individuals occupying positions of coercive power would behave abnormally. The minds and motivations of such individuals remained preoccupied with the compulsions of recouping their initial investment at the earliest. Quite naturally, the lure of the lucre took its toll.
The tragedy in the enforcement parlance has been that the real interests of the State were allowed to get diluted and mixed up with the interests of the government of the day. Our politicians including those at the apex did not display an understanding and appreciation of the requirements of the State and the government in a democratic and pluralist society.
Their myopia decimated professionalism and consequently the sense of direction was lost. In such circumstances, the police hierarchy dipped further into a frustratingly lackadaisical scenario and interests of the State took a back seat providing increasingly greater space to narrow partisan considerations.
The policy-makers have forgotten that in the context of constitutionally incorporated state objectives the need of training for desirable attitudinal development necessitate sustained training.
Time is important for the training process to become a facilitating and catalytic factor. Regular training was not considered an investment in human resources.
There are credible fears that the police image will suffer incalculable damage if politicisation is not effectively halted and expeditious screening of undesirable appointees not done. At the same time large-scale behavioural and attitudinal changes of politicians and public servants would be necessary in public interest.
There are definite reasons to be apprehensive as in the recent past police officers were tasked to survey ruling party candidate popularity. The unfortunate experience has been that most often appeals and entreaties for stopping blatant politicisation of the police have fallen on deaf ears and the political establishment has displayed a 'carryon regardless' attitude. The paramount necessity of insulating the enforcement organ from political influence has not been taken note of.
In Bangladesh, unfortunately, there is no agreement among the different segments of the society as to what is expected or wanted from our police. 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 has been provided for a mutually advantageous barter. This give-and-take between the police and the politicians has thrived because superintendence and control over the police rests in the political executive.
The acts of a few black sheep must not be allowed to smear the virtues of toiling policemen. The bad hats must be dealt with an iron hand at the very first instance of criminality.
The unholy alliance between criminal policemen and corrupt politicians must be broken and the performance of both should be under continuous vigilance and constant scrutiny. The recruitment process of police functionaries have to be sanitised to prevent the entry of undesirable elements and drastic disciplinary actions relating to delinquent police officers must not be interfered with. These are not tall orders. We need them to bring sanity in our governance scenario.
The deviation of policemen in the form of criminal acts and other illegal activities are always deplorable as they shake the foundation of the society by eroding faith and trust in the rule of law.
The most visible symbol of authority can never escape criticism for malfunctioning of any description. They cannot ignore public opinion. This needs to be constantly impressed upon the rank and file.
At the same time it needs to be seriously examined at the earliest whether the bulk of our police force should continue to be ludicrously equated with the unskilled workers and whether police modernisation schemes will remain an area of low priority.
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