HARIPUR: District police officer Dr Zahidullah Jan on Monday claimed that regular monitoring by oversight bodies and accountability by the department had improved the police’s attitude towards the people in Haripur.

The DPO told reporters here that the promulgation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act, 2017, had introduced drastic changes to the functioning of the police department.

“Every police official and officer is now answerable to people under the mechanism, which has inbuilt checks and balances,” he said.

Dr Zahidullah said things had changed a lot as the people raised voice through media against the police’s excesses leaving little room for an errant policeman to get off scot-free.

He said the District Public Safety Commission, public sector human right bodies and above all, the courts monitored the police’s performance.

The DPO said the use of torture as a tool of breaking an accused into confession was an outdated method and that the constant oversight and monitoring had forced the police to change its attitude to become more people-friendly.

He said 21 errant policemen, including SHOs, were handed down punishment, including removal from service, demotion, suspension, arrest, and detention in quarter guard, during the last eight months, while 18 such officials were transferred, denied annual increment or censured.

Dr Zahidullah denied the implication of people in fake drug cases and said the people could move the court against the relevant SHOs in such cases.

About the powers of Section 22-A of CrPC, he said the mechanism of inquiry before FIR registration had several merits and the power of ordering the registration of FIR was with courts.

The DPO called for equipping the police with required staff, introducing modern system of investigation by setting up forensic laboratories at district level, engaging psychologists and psychiatrists both for investigation and rehabilitation of criminals, and removing the police officials’ psychological pressures.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2019