Context:
This editorial is based on the news “A case diary for the Indian police” which was published in The hindu. Recently, a three-day conference of police officers (Director General of Police level) from across India was held in Jaipur to bring a police reform in the policing system.
- Stocktaking Exercise: The exercise aimed to estimate existing policing situations in India, with many subjects of contemporary relevance in information technology forming the agenda’s core.
- Important Areas for Discussions: Discussions were held on the necessity of changing laws, and increasing punishments and fines with dedicated deliberations on human trafficking.
- Other areas included cybercrime, technology in policing, counter-terrorism challenges, left-wing extremism, prison reforms, new criminal laws, AI, Deepfake, and other internal security issues.
- Aim of Conference: To address the challenges posed by new technologies and identify tangible action points.
- Police: It is a functionary of the criminal justice system in India and plays an important role in maintaining peace and enforcing law and order within its territorial jurisdiction.
- Primary Duty of Police: To safeguard the lives and property of the people and protect them against violence, intimidation, oppression, and disorder.
- Acts as Links: Police are the important link between the government and people. Police are also connected with prosecution and judiciary.
- Position in 7th Schedule: Article 246 of the Constitution of India places the police and public order in the State List.
Conference Highlights: India’s Security Challenges – Borders, Cyber Threats, Radicalization, and AI Risks
- Security of Borders: Cross-border infiltration, smuggling, and illegal activities pose significant threats to India.
- For example, according to Carnegie India, there were 492 drone sightings along the India-Pakistan border between 2020 and 2022.
- Cyber-threats: The increasing digitization of services has exposed India to cyber-attacks, data breaches, online fraud, and other issues.
- For instance, the Central government’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) reported 1.12 lakh cybersecurity incidents in the first half of 2023.
- Radicalization: It is the process by which an individual or a group adopts increasingly radical views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The rise of radicalization leads to potential threats of terrorism.
- Fraudulent Issuance of Identity Documents: Illegitimate acquisition of identity documents contributes to an increase in counterfeit documents, identity theft, and fraud.
- Threats Emerging from AI: The rapid integration of AI into various sectors brings new challenges, including potential misuse for malicious purposes.
- For instance, recently, a deepfake of actor Rashmika Mandanna became viral, and her face morphed.
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- Overburdened Police Force: As per data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), the police-public ratio in India stood at 152.80 per lakh persons. United Nations recommended standard is 222 police per lakh persons.
- The state with the highest number of police personnel was Nagaland with around 1189.33 police personnel per lakh of the population, as against the sanctioned 1212.39 personnel.
- Bihar recorded the lowest police-public ratio, with only 75.16 police personnel per lakh of the population.
- Lack of Trust Among Public: The police have yet to establish trust and confidence among a significant portion of the population as their public image remains unfavorable.
- The 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) has noted that police-public relations are unsatisfactory because people view the police as corrupt, inefficient, politically partisan, and unresponsive.
- Accountability to the Political Executive vs Operational Freedom: Both the central and state police forces come under the control and superintendence of the political executive (i.e., central or state government).
- The 2nd ARC has noted that this control has been abused in the past by the political executive to influence police personnel unduly, and have them serve personal or political interests.
- Centre-State Issues: There is increasing disagreement between the Centre and a few States concerning the centrally managed Indian Police Service, perceived to be a permanent irritant to some States.
- Underutilisation of Funds for Modernization: Both centers and states allocate funds for the modernization of state police forces but these funds are typically used for strengthening police infrastructure, by way of the construction of police stations, the purchase of weaponry, communication equipment, and vehicles.
- However, there has been a persistent problem of underutilization of modernization funds.
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Addressing Gaps in Policing – Diversity, Infrastructure, and Tech Challenges
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- Limited Diversity in Police Force: Even though the all-India percentage of women in the police force has improved steadily over the past 10 years, rising from 5.87% in 2013 to 11.75% in 2022, as per Home Ministry, it is still way short from parity.
- Poor Infrastructure: Police forces across India lack weapons and fundamental communications and transport infrastructure
- Evolution of Crime: Increasingly complex crimes, such as economic fraud and deepfake challenge the police, who lack the modern technology for investigation.
- Independent Complaints Authority: The 2nd ARC and the Supreme Court have observed that there is a need to have an independent complaints authority to inquire into cases of police misconduct.
- For example, the United Kingdom has an Independent Office for Police Conduct to oversee complaints against police officers. Further, the New York City Police has a Civilian Complaint Review Board to investigate police misconduct cases.
- Need to Reinforce the Positive Image of the Police in Citizens: Using social media at the Police Station level for disseminating positive information and advance information on natural calamities and disaster relief.
- Further, organizing various sports events to strengthen citizen-police connections, staying in border villages, etc. can help in establishing better connections with the local populace.
- Community Policing Model: Community policing requires the police to work with the community to prevent and detect crime, maintain public order, and resolve local conflicts to provide a better quality of life and sense of security.
Judicial Intervention in Prakash Singh v/s Union of India:
- In 1996, a petition was filed before the Supreme Court that raised various instances of abuse of power by the police, and alleged that police personnel perform their duties politically partisanly.
- The Supreme Court issued its judgment in 2006, and lay down guidelines for police functioning, evaluated police performance, decided postings and transfers, and received complaints of police misconduct.
The seven main directives were:
- Fixing the tenure and selection of the DGP to avoid situations where officers about to retire in a few months are given the post.
- To mitigate political interference, a minimum tenure was sought for the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
- The SC further directed postings of officers being done by Police Establishment Boards (PEB) comprising police officers and senior bureaucrats.
- SC recommended setting up the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) to give a platform where common people aggrieved by police action could approach.
- Separation of investigation and law and order functions to better improve policing,
- Setting up of State Security Commissions (SSC) that would have members from civil society and
- Forming a National Security Commission.
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- Formulation of Model Police Act: It is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments to formulate a new Police Act or amend their existing Act on the lines of the draft Model Police Act prepared by the Central Government.SMART Force: Making the police a ‘SMART’ force — Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Techno savvy and Trained.
- Other Ways:
- Adequate Education and Training: Senior officers should dedicate time to training and educating lower ranks.
- More Decentralization: Consider giving states more control over their police forces while maintaining national standards and coordination.
- Stronger Ethics: Promote independent decision-making and resist political pressure to ensure fair and unbiased law enforcement.
January 15, 2024
