PESHAWAR: Speakers at a ceremony here on Tuesday urged the government to focus on reforms in police to make the force more people-friendly and remove the trust deficit between people and law enforcers in the province.

They were addressing the opening ceremony of ‘Ulasi’ police project, an awareness and advocacy campaign undertaken by Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). The event was held at Malik Saad Police Lines, said a statement.

The project is aimed at strengthening rule of law in the province by promoting and disseminating significant police reforms. The project would tackle the issue of trust deficit between police and people and help police to become an accountable and community-focused force, the statement said.

“Institutionalising of police reforms is must to tackle the trust deficit between the public and the police in the province,” said Tariq Javed, the additional inspector general of police, on the occasion.

Project launched to strengthen rule of law in KP

He stressed the need for greater advocacy for the image building of police. He said that police needed operational autonomy to function impartially and effectively.

ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who attended the event as a guest speaker, said that police in the province had been playing a front line role in the war against terrorism. “Due to prolonged insurgency in the region, there is a dire need to bring social reforms in police system to make the force more people-friendly,” he added.

The ANP leader extended full support to the authorities in bringing reforms in police system and improving image of the force. He said that during the previous provincial government, number of police was increased from 40,000 to 80,000 and Shuhada package was approved for them.

PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai said on the occasion that initiatives like ‘Ulasi’ police were need of the hour to restore trust of people in police. “Police face multi-pronged challenges and de-politicisation of the force can help it to stand up to these challenges,” he added.

Mr Yousafzai said that the dispute resolution councils (DRCs) were also a good step-ahead as part of the efforts to serve the people. Earlier, CRRS chief executive Imtiaz Gul said that the project would be run in three districts including Peshawar, Charsadda and Mardan to remove trust deficit between police and people.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2016