RAWALPINDI: The Punjab police chief has directed all divisional and city police officers to change the timings of station house officers’ presence in the police stations.

The SHO will be attending public complaints from 3pm to 5pm in Ramazan. However, after Ramazan the routine timing of the summer — 4pm to 6pm —would be observed.

A former inspector general of the police (IGP) had directed to install CCTV cameras in the offices of SHOs to ensure their presence in their offices for two hours to facilitate the citizens.

CCTV cameras were installed in all the police stations and made operational by Feb 1, 2018. And to ensure the presence of the SHOs and monitoring their activities the CCTV were to make active only during the two public hours.

The SHOs had been directed to attend the public for at least two hours in their offices every day.

The timing for the pubic hours of the SHOs was fixed from 3pm to 5pm in the winter and from 4pm to 6pm in the summer.

In his fresh directive to all RPOs and CPOs, the IGP changed the timings to 3pm-5pm in Ramazan.

In November last year, City Police Officer Abbas Ahsan had directed the subdivisional police officers and SHOs to install good quality CCTVs in the police stations.

He had issued the directions after finding a majority of the CCTV cameras installed in the police stations non-functional.

The CPO had also directed the SDPOs to keep the digital video recorder (DVR) at a safer place after installation of the CCTV surveillance system in the police stations.

According to the directive, three CCTV cameras — one at the main entry gate, the other inside the lock-up and the third at the office of muharar — were to be installed.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2019