PESHAWAR: Inspector General of Police Dr Sanaullah Abbasi said on Thursday that focus on improvement of investigation led to two per cent decrease in acquittal rate in Mardan and Charsadda districts.

A statement issued here said that Dr Abbasi told a delegation of British High Commission’s Justice System Support Programme (JSSP) that project focus on improvement in investigation led to two per cent reductions in acquittal rates since 2018 in both the districts, where it was piloted.

He said that interventions initiated in the pilot districts were extended to the entire province.

JSSP is funded by the British government and provides technical support to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and police. It is focused on bringing improvement in quality of investigation in serious crimes, especially sexual violence against women and children, and to ultimately improve users’ experience of criminal justice system.

The IGP appreciated JSSP’s assistance in problem solving through a cross-institutional and data driven approach. He also thanked British High Commission for providing 3,500 sexual offense evidence collection kits (SOECKs) to police to improve the quality of evidence in crimes against women and children.

He said that to properly utilise those kits, police developed ‘operational guidelines for investigators on crime scene management and forensic evidence collection’ and those had since been disseminated across the province, focusing on better management of crime scene and greater use of forensics.

He said that more than 100 police investigators were imparted skills-based investigation training focusing on modern techniques. To improve performance management of investigations, inspection protocols have been developed and implemented across the province.

Dr Sanaullah said that a monthly meeting under the supervision of IGP, based on a newly developed and detailed crime monitoring template, was introduced in the department. This performance management, initially introduced in pilot districts of Mardan and Charsadda, has shown positive results.

He said that another key priority of police was to improve the quality of service provided to women and children.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2021