LAHORE, Oct 6: The government has taken some radical measures to increase performance and effectiveness of the police department.

This was stated by provincial Law Punjab Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja while inaugurating a one-day “Policing Seminar 2003” here on Monday.

He said the political and administrative systems in the Punjab were in a transition phase while reforms introduced recently were aimed at making police a people-friendly and service-oriented organization.

The seminar, being held under the joint aegis of the British Council and South Yorkshire Police at Chuhng Police Training Institute, was attended by senior police officials, including AIG Azhar Nadeem Syed and a six-member UK police delegation.

The law minister said he believed that South Yorkshire Police could fully support and assist the Punjab police in a host of areas such as policing techniques, training, management and modernization.

He said the South Yorkshire police were a force based in Northern England which had a high percentage of Pakistani residents.

He appreciated that South Yorkshire Police along with the Punjab police were adopting a dynamic approach to win the respect and confidence of the people.

He said building of this trust and respect between police forces of the two countries, in terms of information sharing and agreeing protocols for future cooperation, would strengthen the Pak-South Yorkshire policing links.

This relationship had recently seen the beginning of an exchange programme under which police officers went to South Yorkshire for a professional capacity-building, he said.

“The Punjab government fully endorses and appreciates the efforts of this collaboration between the two police forces”, he stressed.

The AIG said the Police Order 2002 envisaged Independent Public Safety Commissions at national, provincial and district levels, establishment of police forces in capital city districts, a police complaints authority in each province, an independent prosecution service and a criminal justice coordination committee in each district.

He said the new law also provided a comprehensive strategy of crime prevention through public involvement. He said there was a big scope for the cooperation with the South Yorkshire Police, particularly in the areas of community policing, accountability, training and investigating techniques. South Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Steve Chamerlain and Dr Chaudhry Walayat also spoke on the occasion. The seminar was also followed by a question-answer session.