November 17, 2008	Monday	Ziqa'ad 18, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 16: There is hardly a police station in the city which is functioning with its sanctioned strength. Almost all the police stations are limping along with their posted strength, which is far less than their sanctioned strength, official statistics show.

Similarly, with the given resources every police station is short of mobiles (vans). If there are four mobiles, barely two are in running condition and the remaining are off the road.

But despite serious resource constraints, the police hierarchy manages to cater to the security needs of the cabinet members and legislators at the expense of the police station, to the detriment of the taxpayers.

During a random survey, Dawn selected three major police stations of three different towns of the city where data showed that all the three police stations were severely understaffed and overworked.

Gulshan-i-Iqbal

The Gulshan-i-Iqbal police station is considered the most important police station of Gulshan Town, encompassing all social strata. Every type of crime takes place there, ranging from street crime to carjacking. The Gulshan police station was established in 1980.

On paper, the police station has a sanctioned strength of 295 police personnel having one inspector, nine sub-inspectors, 29 assistant sub-inspectors and 219 constables.

However, on the ground the police station is functioning with 153 personnel – two inspectors, 10 sub-inspectors, 20 assistant sub-inspectors, 29 head constables and 92 constables.

The police station is equipped with two police mobiles capable of moving only at a snail’s pace. It takes around 40 to 45 minutes for a police mobile to complete its round of one block and reach the same street from where it had started, said an officer.

Understandably, the two police mobiles are not capable of pursuing suspected vehicles.

Clifton

The Clifton police station, considered a major police station of Clifton Town, was established in 1957. It has a sanctioned strength of 254 personnel – an inspector, 10 sub-inspectors, 23 assistant sub-inspectors, 38 head constables and 182 police constables.

However, on the ground the posted strength of the Clifton police station is 86 men – two inspectors, seven sub-inspectors, 13 assistant sub-inspectors, nine head constables and 55 constables.

It has four police mobiles: two are in working condition, two off the road. Both police mobiles are in bad shape, hardly capable of chasing suspects. Its jurisdiction mainly comprises affluent areas, but at the same time lower-middle class areas such as Neelum Colony are also situated in its limits.

Jamshed Quarters

The Jamshed Quarters police station, earlier called New Town police station, was established in 1946. It has a sanctioned strength of 119 personnel: eight sub-inspectors, 15 assistant sub-inspectors, 20 head constables and 82 constables.

Bu in reality, the posted strength of the police station is 100 personnel – eight sub-inspectors, 11 assistant sub-inspectors, 20 head constables and 61 constables.

The police station has three police mobiles, one of which is off the road. The jurisdiction of the Jamshed Quarters police station comprises the most-densely populated areas dating to the partition days.

The police station is severely understaffed, functioning with half of its sanctioned strength, policing one of the most complex and densely populated areas of the city, vulnerable to a host of crimes.

In May 2004, following the killing of Mufti Shamzai, the Jamshed Quarters police station suffered the brunt of the protesters’ wrath as it was ransacked and set on fire by a mob.

In the event of VVIP duties, the police station becomes practically deserted as almost all the posted strength is sent out on the ‘intizam’ duty.

A police station is considered the basic unit in any policing system. But, as the data suggests, over the years police stations have failed to attract the attention of the policymakers.