Editorial
Reforming police
Pressing urgency to bring it about
In Bangladesh the problem of combating the older and emerging types of crime is getting tougher. That is due to multiple reasons, which include the fewer police men and women compared to population size, inadequate logistic supports available to them, anachronistic laws that governing them and so on.
Unfortunately, a law framed about a century and a half back during the colonial period is still guiding our police force. For obvious reasons this law cannot serve the need of an independent nation. And given its historical context, it cannot also be pro-people.
So far initiatives were undertaken for the umpteenth time to reform the police and tons of recommendations were also made for the purpose. It is more than half a decade that the UNDP-sponsored police reform project has been undertaken. The members of the police have also received trainings from abroad on modern methods and techniques to combat new kind of crimes. But in spite of all these ostensible efforts, we have hardly noticed any qualitative improvement in the service of the law-enforcement agency. Neither could these leave any significant impact on the overall law and order situation characterised by ever-rising rate of violence and crime in society.
To cap it all, the police are increasingly coming under the scrutiny of the media, the civil society and the local and international rights watchdogs for their alleged involvement in corruption, nexus with criminals and their growing tendency to become the cronies of the party in state power. Needless to say, these are seriously affecting the efficiency and morale of the police.
Therefore, the need for reforming and modernising the police cannot be overemphasized. And given the urgency of the situation, we hope, the government would waste no more time in adopting prompt steps to address the issue.
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