Police suffer from image crisis, says DMP boss
The police department has been suffering from image crisis for decades because of the country's "ill political culture" and the age-old Police Act 1861, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Benazir Ahmed said yesterday.
Due to political conflicts, agitating activists take to the streets and police tackle them with old methods by charging batons and throwing tear canisters, he added.
“The next day people see those in the media and get a wrong massage that police always act wild," he said addressing a discussion titled "Budget for Police: Reality and Expectations of People" at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
Police want to use modern technologies to control wrongdoings without charging batons or using teargas but they do not get adequate budget to introduce new technologies, he said.
Annex Communications Ltd that conducts surveys arranged the discussion.
Benazir described the Police Act 1861 as an "act of slavery and full of serious lacking".
"Due to some provisions of the Police act, we cannot even place our demands to the government. We cannot say no to some ill orders," he added.
Demanding that the government allocate two percent of GDP to the police, he said if the government treated the allocation as an investment, people will be benefited. This money will help the police to recruit more members, introduce new technologies, and provide policemen with training.
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