KARACHI: After the successful opening of air-conditioned reporting centres with uninterrupted power supply and round-the-clock internet facility at the Preedy and Gulberg police stations, the Karachi police have formally launched an ambitious Rs80 million project to upgrade more than 100 police stations across the city by June 2017, it emerged on Tuesday.

The project, first of its kind in recent years, is aimed at making police stations’ atmosphere “acceptable” to the public as well as at “image building”. A comprehensive plan for and design of such centres at more than 100 police stations has already been finalised by the deputy inspector general of police for administration.

“According to a standard plan, six split ACs, a 35-kV power generator and 30-MB fibre optic link would be fixed at each police station,” said an official citing details of the documents inviting suppliers and different private companies to carry out the project.

“It means that each police station would have six ACs and all those facilities which are mentioned. For this modern facility, a separate room or two would be built in those police stations where no such space is available. For those where already space is available it would be modified. The project is estimated to cost Rs80m.”

With the police force often being criticised for non-cooperative behaviour with visitors, corruption, incompetence, and most importantly for denying complainants their basic right to lodge a complaint, such moves were the need of the hour, the authorities believed.

Under the same project, the Gulberg and Preedy police stations were equipped with modern reporting facilities and opened to public just last month. Both the reporting centres were linked with the IT office of the Central Police Office. People were being provided facilities at the reporting centres to lodge complaints including those against police officials and against domestic violence. Besides, the two centres had the facility for the issuance of character certificates, registration of house servants, police verification and record complaints pertaining to FIRs, missing documents or missing children.

However, the question remains whether all these measures to be carried out across the city at a huge cost would be successful in building a positive image of the law enforcement agency which is often seen as a source of harassment rather than protection. It is an open secret that citizens, even after suffering at the hands of criminals, need to grease the palms of personnel — from constable to high-ranking officer — for their legitimate complaint.

The Karachi police chief, Additional IG Mushtaq Mahar, claims to have a remedy for this institutional flaw. “We have also planned to bring in the community as well to address this particular issue,” he said. “In some areas, we will invite members of local NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and in some [others] members of the CPLC [Citizens-Police Liaison Committee] to become part of these modern reporting rooms along with the policemen. They would be made part of [the team] only to observe the operation and help out people in case they have any issues. If they find any wrongdoing on part of the police station or policemen, they would come to us [Karachi police authorities].”

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2017