Police handicapped by many problems:Daily Sun

 Digging out news about misdeeds of cops is a big achievement of the media. But it is not known to many that cops, the perpetrators of thousands of misdeeds, are also plunged in endless crises. Kaler Kantho has investigated about the problems and crises of the cops. Consequently, an inhuman life-scenario has been revealed. Work force is so small that in our country one cop has to ensure security o
f every one thousand people while in other countries a cop gives security to 200 to 300 people. Here one sub-inspector has to investigate 20 cases and GDs in a month and for that reason problem arises in submitting charge-sheets of cases in right time. Housing crisis is so acute that on return to barrack from hard work the whole day for rest, a cop most of the time finds that another man is resting in the seat allotted to him. As a result, he has to skip the night lying in the corridor. At police stations, the number of transports and firearms is also inadequate. There is lack of sophisticated training as well. So, the cops sometimes have to return back from drives being beaten up. Besides, they are unable to meet the expenses of the family with the salary and allowance received. So, many of them are forced to step into dishonest way. And no sooner they do it, there is hue and cry: There is none worse then cops. The ill reputation of one or two has to be shared by all. The professional problems faced by police, as revealed in Kaler Kantho investigation, are given below. Sources said one IGP, two additional IGP, 49 DIGs, 75 additional DIGs, 257 SPs, 492 additional SPs, 271 senior ASPs, 1,014 ASPs, 3,962 Inspectors, 14,929 SI, 247 TSIs, 1,764 sergeants, 10,037 ASIs, 7,199 TSI, 6,501 Nayeks, 7,963 women police and 1,07,479 constables are discharging duties for the safety of 16 crore people of the country. It is learnt that one police is deployed for the security of 189 citizens in neighbouring India, 377 in Pakistan, 219 in Nepal, 146 in Bhutan, 249 in Malaysia, 228 in Thailand, 157 in Japan and 245 in the USA. But, in Bangladesh, one police is working for the safety of more than 1,000 people. People will be deprived of safety as long as the number does not become double of the current manpower. Poor salary structure is materially affecting service of police. Basic salary of a constable is Tk 4,500. He draws totally Tk 9,095. Similarly, a Nayek gets Tk 10,450 including Tk 4,900 basic salary. An assistant town sub-inspector and an ASI get 11,235 including Tk 5,200 basic salary. A sub-inspector, a TSI and a sergeant get Tk 16,540 including Tk 8,000 basic salary each. Several sub-inspectors and constables told this reporter that they cannot meet the cost of their families with the money they get. But they get ration as much as the higher officers. The government recently allowed 30 percent risk allowance giving in to their longstanding demand. They also said it is not possible for all police officials to live in the rented house and bear the cost of education of their children. Shortage of housing facility is an acute problem for police. Nearly 32,000 police are working under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) area. Around 15,082 officials including ADC and sub-ordinates need residential facilities. There are 5,000 residences as against the above demand. A total of 55 residences are needed for Assistant Police Commissioners. In reality, there are 35 houses for their use. There are 112 houses for the Inspectors as against the demand of 287. Similarly, there are 1,777 houses for the sub-inspectors and sergeants as against their demand of 2,376. Besides, ASIs need 1,740 houses but they have only 373. On the other hand, there are 253 houses as against 20,218 for the head constable, Nayek and constables rank holders. Deputy IGP (Admin) of the Police Headquarters told Kaler Kantho that the government is earnestly trying to promote police despite various limitations. It has taken some positive steps to increase the manpower of police and logistic supports. Despite the fact, police are still facing some problems. Steps were taken to solve these. A study of UNDP said police are unhappy with the poor status of housing, promotion, healthcare and financial facilities. One seat is allocated to four constables at Rajarbagh barrack. As a result, they cannot take rest after discharging duties. There is dearth of healthcare fund for the police. A constable gets Tk 44 per month. This amount is too small to receive quality health service. Besides, there is shortage of arms, vehicle and other necessary equipments for them. Irregularity in the recruitment procedure has aggravated the problem. A RAB member gets risk allowance to the tune of 70 percent of his basic salary. The amount for police is much below. A police has to spend the whole share of his salary for the purpose of house rent. They are subjected to harassment at the time of getting promotion. The total number of women cops is 7,963, the number is 4.44 percent only among the male police force. From constable to additional IGP there are many woman police holding different posts. Among the woman police member – there are one Additional IGP, two DIGs, two ADIGs, 12 SPs, 57 Additional Police Super, 19 Senior Assistant Police Super, 111 Assistant Police Super, 58 Inspectors, 475 SI, 411 ASI and 6,413 constables. A woman police constable at Rajarbagh Police barrack said, “Most of the women police are neglected compared to male counterparts. Sometimes we are harassed. But we have nothing to say. The big challenge is our social condition. The way the people welcome male police members, female members do not get such treatment.” Women police members used to discharge their duties as like as male police force. They have been performing 12 to 14 hours non-stop duties on road. But they have not enough toilet facilities. Also their barrack condition is not so good, even they did not get quality food. The number of police vehicle is inadequate compared to manpower. There are about 7000 vehicles in different thanas across the country. Most of them are 20 years old vehicle. Some do not have fitness certificates. Years after years police department has been using these unfit cars. The police force has been performing their duties through requisition of private-owned vehicles due to transport crisis. Among the transports, there are 700 jeeps, 92 patrol jeeps, 60 microbuses, 27 buses, 15 minibuses, 72 highway patrol cars, 100 prison vans, 20 ambulances and 500 trucks. There are 2000 vehicles under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Of them, 280 are pickup vans, 155 jeeps, 50 patrol jeeps, 50 microbuses, 20 buses, 10 riot cars, 8 ambulances and 20 prison vans. When asked, a police official said that although government has increased the manpower of police force, the numbers of vehicles were not raised. The initiatives for reforming police force are lying in cold storage since long. The last caretaker government took the initiative to reform police force. This initiative was foiled when the political government came to power. Police officials said that the police force was formed on the basis of a commission report constituted in 1860. After that in 1902, 1960, 1988 and 1989 police commissions were constituted. In 2007 the commission was reformed. A commission meeting was held before one week. Police force cannot perform duties independently as the present law has not been reformed, the police official added. The government has formed several new unit for increasing police service to the people. Recently the government has constituted industrial police, SPBN, PBI, River Police, Tourist Police, Rangpur Range, Rangpur Range Reserve Force (RRF), 29 new thana, and 47 investigation centres. Modern and digital technology have been using in 30 in-service training centres for monitoring training activities. There are 3500 members of traffic police in four divisions under DMP areas. Of them, there are four deputy commissioners, four additional deputy commissioners, 100 traffic inspectors, 700 police sergeants and 2,672 traffic constables. There are 10000 members of traffic police under the Rajshahi, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Sylhet divisions. Due to housing problem, traffic police of those areas cannot take rest after hard working throughout the day. Mili Biswas, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), DMP told Kaler Kontho, “Traffic police is taking lot of pains. If everyone abides by laws then their sufferings may reduce. There were some difference between traffic police and other departments. Now this all have decreased. A police officer of Sirajdikhan of Munshiganj said the condition of police station in rural areas is not good. Specially the transport and residential problems have become severe. Some police stations have only one vehicle, although at least five vehicles are required to perform night duty. Private vehicles are used very frequently for this purpose. It is tough to conduct drives due to shortage of transport and criminals flee quite often under this situation. He said every staff of the police station does not have residential facilities. Residential arrangements have to be made through rented houses. Sitting at chairs many constable, spend the night. At least 60police members are required for a police station while some 32 are available here. The arms and weapons of this station are old here. But criminals are now using modern arams. In the 2011-2012 fiscal year police department got budget allocation of Tk 6,300 crore while the budget has been increased to Tk 6,500 crore in the current fiscal year. A total of Tk 819.59 crore has been allocated for the renovation and building construction of police stations. Omar Faruk, Assistant Professor of Criminology Department of Maulana Bhashani Science and Technology University said there are some problems in police stations, although the present government has taken some positive initiatives for the development of police departments. The role of police can be more active if their salary and other facilities of police are ensured. IGP Hasan Mahmud Khandakar said radical changes have been made in the police department during the present and previous tenure of the government. Police have again got the rank and badge given by Bangabandhu. But still there are some problems in the police department like transport and residence. But effort is going on to overcome those problems. Courtesy: Kaler Kantho