IN the last few months, Karachi has witnessed a sharp rise in street crimes. Concurrently, it is believed that factors like unemployment, poverty and illegal immigrants are responsible for the spike in such crimes.

Considering this, we need to improve technical infrastructure of police stations by taking several measures. We should build model police stations with sufficient manpower and utilise modern technology and gadgets, such as mobile tracking software, in police stations and CCTV surveillance.

The whole information technology (IT) system needs to be upgraded by hiring experts in the field, besides upgrading wireless operations. This needs to be done along with enhanced police patrolling, especially on motorcycles for easy and better mobility in narrow streets and lanes in congested areas of the city.

The police force also needs support and cooperation from the relevant departments to maintain online verification record system. The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Excise, Customs, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and other enforcement agencies should share data with the police force.

The supervisory body should revisit police training policies and adopt measures to train recruits’ mental approach as well, instead of focussing only on physical training. More importantly, police personnel should be educated on ethical guidelines as well as on troubleshooting skills to overcome problems whose solutions are hard to find.

It has been observed that station house officers (SHOs) are transferred frequently for one reason or the other. There should be a fixed tenure for police officials, including the SHOs. Taking these measures, we may command respect and build people’s trust in the department.

ASI Amir Ali
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2022