LAHORE: Only one policeman is guarding 413 citizens in Lahore which is a very high ratio when compared with foreign cosmopolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and London where the police-citizen ratio stands at 1:198, 1:294 and 1:157, respectively.

Even the local cities like Quetta (1:225) and Peshawar (1:267) are much better placed than the provincial metropolis of Punjab, showing a scale of the Shahbaz-led government’s negligence towards critical dearth in the Lahore police force.

The Punjab government has turned down repeated requests of the police authorities to inject ‘new blood’ to the force to fight terrorism, heinous crimes and to maintain peace in Lahore.

The police high-ups in recent department meetings furnished analysis of the police’s strength in terms of ever-growing population and the infrastructure it lacked to fight the menace of crimes and terrorism in Lahore, the country’s second largest city.

City needs double the force to meet ‘crisis-like situation’

The major factor behind increase in the crime rate in Lahore is the acute shortage of force and the government’s poor response in this regard, a senior police official told Dawn on the condition of anonymity.

He said the provincial capital had witnessed an increase in the overall crime rate. In 2014, at least 48,144 incidents of crimes were reported which grew to 59,138 in 2015.

Lahore is a hub of educational institutions, gardens and worship places, he said. Out of at least 930 worship places, there are 348 Imambargahs, 550 churches, four gurdwaras, 22 Qadiani Baituz Zikars and three each Hindu temples and Ismaili Jamaat Khanas. Mosques are in addition to these worship places, he said.

Only 1,000 policemen were deputed to guard these 930 worship places despite serious security threats due to shortage of manpower.

Apart from this, 139 government and private projects were also located in and around the city areas where Chinese nationals are employed, giving a big challenge to the Lahore police for providing them security.

He said the authorities in meetings stressed the need to double the present police strength (around 27,000) so as to take the security up to a satisfactory level and to face future challenges more effectively.

He said the lack of funds for the repair, maintenance and infrastructure development was another major hurdle which was seriously affecting the performance of police force.

The Punjab government’s claims to bringing about a change in the thana culture appear only to be an ‘eyewash’ since it has ‘dumped’ the idea of providing adequate force to the provincial capital police, the official said.

“We are in a dire need of at least 140 police stations in Lahore. We had requested the government to establish eight more police stations to meet crisis-like situation in some troubled areas of the provincial capital. But the government has given the approval only for the four police stations”, the official lamented.

Currently, Lahore is housing six divisions, 35 circles and only 84 police stations to fight crimes and provide security to citizens with a total strength of 26,500 policemen, including 17,824 of the operations wing.

After the deadly suicide attack at Gulshan-i-Iqbal park, the responsibility of the Lahore police has increased manifold and the force requires immediate reinforcement.

But the shortage of police force can be gauged from the fact that no new recruitment has been made for the last three years or so, he said.

The city has been facing terror attacks, bomb blasts and sectarian violence and is under constant threat of such attacks and acts of violence.

Besides, the crimes like kidnap for ransom, robbery, dacoity are also on the rise since the city is also much affected by neighbouring crime-hit districts of Sheikhupura and Kasur.

A large number of protests, rallies and processions are organized daily in Lahore and since the operations police face shortage of human resource the alternate arrangements have to be made from police stations to guard protesters, the official said.

“The current fiscal year is going to end but the government is yet to provide Rs70 million funds to the Motor Transport Wing of Lahore police,” he said.

He said the government was ‘making a mockery of the department’ by providing a meager annual fund of Rs1 million for the repair and maintenance of all police buildings in Lahore.

“The police receive funds for stationery only during the first four to five months of the year. And for rest of the period the police manage stationery from their own resources”, the official said.

DIG (Operations) Dr Haider Ashraf said that the Lahore police were delivering despite the shortage of force.

“We are now moving towards specialization. The forming of Police Response Unit, Dolphin Force and Anti-Riot Force will help police in providing quick response to anti-state elements and criminals”, he said.

Dr Haider said the Lahore police were in contact with the Punjab government to overcome shortcomings.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2016