AS the civil and military leaderships gear up to fight homegrown extremism and terrorism to the finish, police departments everywhere see heavier burdens coming their way. And so do the police of Rawalpindi.

Still, securing the cities against terrorists will not be a new demand on the police. They, along with other law enforcing agencies of the state, have been doing that for decades.

The new-born resolve only calls upon all to fight the menace for real.

Until now, the policemen manning checkpoints and pickets and guarding the so-called sensitive places in the garrison city represented the visible role that the Rawalpindi police played in counterterrorism.

However, according to experienced policemen, the new situation demands more professionalism from them.

A retired senior police officer, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity, put intelligence gathering and capacity-building of police for the job on the top.

“Without intelligence, there is no policing,” he said when Dawn asked him what part police can play in the looming, long-drawn battle against the misguided but hardened militants, some having links with religious zealots abroad.

Another retired officer with vast experience in policing agreed with him. “Because they live and work in the midst of people, policemen are in a better position to detect unholy trends and gather information about them,” he explained.

“Improve police stations and intelligence gathering and we can change the society and check terrorists and other criminals,” he said. Otherwise, police picketing and everything else will be of no use.

Indeed, what the 45 police checkpoints established in and around the garrison city over the years have achieved? Nothing more than causing frustration to road users during day time and at night the personnel manning them flashing torches at goods carriers and out-of-town vehicles to stop and demand money from some for allowing them passage, rued the officer.

But he also empathized with the 290 Rawalpindi policemen and other uniformed personnel deployed at the ill-equipped checkpoints and pickets, which have no facilities for their personal comforts - and no body-armour to dare challenge terrorists.

Their plight was illustrated by a police officer who lives in Gujar Khan and has to travel 30 kilometres to his place of duty. “I spend Rs300 on travel and lunch daily,” he said, envious of private security guards “for they are looked after better”.

One-third of the 45 checkpoints are manned by the Rawalpindi and Islamabad police jointly and seven, set up in March 2011, with army soldiers. Ten checkpoints are located beyond the city limits in Taxila and Gujar Khan and Murree areas.

Perhaps, the most important police pickets are those established at Chakri Interchange, Hamidan and Brahma on the motorways by the Anti-Car Lifting Cell of Rawalpindi police to prevent the stolen vehicles from going out of the district, a task rarely achieved.

That reduces the chances of other checkpoints intercepting terrorists heading their way to luck or a fond hope. “In any case terrorists and car thieves can always find alternative routes for their evil missions,” observed a police officer.

Senior officers agree that what a force in such a sorry situation needs to combat terrorism is specific training, better equipment, advance technology, and, above all, freedom from political and other forms of interference in its work of policing to produce results demanded or expected from them,

And the last word from both the retired police officers, who had performed well during their postings in trouble cities of Pakistan, on redeeming the situation was: “Without intelligence, there is no policing.”

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2014