RAWALPINDI: Police have devised a new system to improve the quality of investigation.

Under the new system, three new units have been established in police stations of the district for investigation of persons, property and financial crimes. As many as 669 officers have been deployed for investigation of property and financial crimes and they will not be transferred for four months. Murder cases are being investigated by Homicide Investigation Unit (HIU) and narcotics cases by the Narcotics Investigation Unit (NIU).

City Police Officer (CPO) Mohammad Ahsan Younis clarified the principles of investigation and performance appraisal of officers under the new investigative system. Now an investigator instead of probing all types of cases would investigate cases related to his specialised field.

Both the plaintiff and accused should be given full opportunity to present their cases, he said. In the newly-introduced units, educated, experienced and professional officers have been posted, a spokesman for the police said.

Apart from the police officers assigned to these units, other police officers will perform general duties. Rules have also been formulated to assess the performance of the investigating officers.

Under the new system, all the investigating officers will report to the senior superintendent of police.

The CPO said the decision to introduce the new investigation system was based on complaints received from citizens regarding excessive number of cases with investigating officers and unequal distribution of cases. The citizens complained that the investigating officers did not listen to them due to workload and lack of communication.

He said the new investigation system will not only help in resolving such complaints but will also improve the quality of investigation.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2021