ISLAMABAD: The capital police have successfully handled security affairs during the last seven months and ensured that effective action was against criminals.

An internship programme was introduced while the Capital Police College was established to improve training under the command of the capital police officer.

Reform or institutional change is a major challenge today but reforms in Islamabad police followed a pattern due to guidelines of the government and special interest of its chief Dr Akbar Nasir Khan towards efficient policing.

As per a statement, policemen in the capital have added a golden chapter in their history, written with the blood of their martyrs. For compensation to the families of martyred personnel, an amount of Rs1,224 million was paid to them and the families of deceased employees. Similarly, Rs17.5 million was also distributed among families of martyrs, deceased officials and other police personnel for welfare.

The recruitment of next of kin of martyrs has been completed and no case is pending with Islamabad police.

During the same period, the e-challan system was implemented through safe city to control traffic violations in the city. Around 1,010 law and order events were professionally handled without mismanagement.

The investigation process was further improved and Capital Investigation Branch within police stations was restructured for better prevention and detection of crime. The office of Station House Officer (SHO) was also empowered to ensure fair investigation while a Court Compliance Unit (CCU) was established to streamline the criminal justice system. Women and Child Investigation Units were set up at all police stations, the statement added.

An Anti-Robbery Unit was set up to improve conviction rate and eradicate criminals while female investigation officers were posted in 10 police stations to improve the investigation process, it stated, adding Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) centres were established at the offices of sub divisional police officers to minimise burden on the system.

Furthermore, a Police Public Relations Branch (PRB) was established while a system was introduced for registration of first information reports (FIRs) at the door steps of people and an easy and smooth process was ensured for lodging complaints.

An additional 700 new cameras through the Safe City Project were installed while e-entry/exit system was started at the Red Zone to ensure better security of principal offices in the country.

Data Protection and Privacy Procedures in Safe City Islamabad was introduced while 21 telecommunication towers under Safe City were activated.

After formal approval of the government, Islamabad police started the process of recruitment in the force to overcome the lack of manpower. A system is being followed for the recruitment process and a total of 141,739 applicants applied against 1,668 posts of constables, the statement said, adding around 111 posts have been sanctioned for establishment of a Minority Protection Unit (MPU).

Anti-Riot training of Frontier Constabulary (FC) officials was conducted to cope with the challenge of long marches in a professional manner. Capacity building courses were conducted for investigation officials at Capital Police College while a gender main streaming programme was organised.

During the last seven months, three new police stations were established to combat crime effectively and for the resolution of public complaints. Land was allotted for Banigala police station, Islamabad while an indoor firing range was also established.

As per the vision of the prime minister, solarisation of a public facilitation centre in F-6 and H-11 has also been done.

Inspector General of Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan said that more steps would be taken to improve policing and Islamabad police would be made into an example for other departments to follow.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2023