KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah met with a delegation of 22 members from the Pakistani American Law Enforcement Society (PALES) of the New York Police Department (NYPD) and discussed their respective policing systems and shared experiences.

During the meeting, PALES offered the CM to train provincial local police officers in dealing with street crime, intelligence work, traffic management, and vigilance.

The 22-member delegation of the PALES was led by Rohail Khalid. In the delegation the officers of different police assignments such as integrity control officer, traffic enforcement, intelligence, training bureau, identification bureau, patrol, and others.

Sindh Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, and others also attended the meeting.

The CM welcomed the NYPD delegation and discussed the issue of terrorism in Karachi, which he attributed to the Afghan war and regional politics. He acknowledged the sacrifices made by the police and law enforcement agencies, with the support of his government, to eliminate terrorism in the area.

He further highlighted the challenge of street crime in the city, against which the police and rangers have initiated operations. He also mentioned that the government was working on amending laws to utilise technology in dealing with repeat criminals.

The delegation members emphasized that only a small group of 10 per cent of the population was responsible for committing crimes against 90pc. They suggested that if criminals were aware of being watched, they would avoid committing crimes.

The delegation members also agreed with the CM on the importance of using technology to control crime.

The NYPD offered to train the Sindh police.

Mr Shah appreciated the offer and directed the IGP to examine the proposal and submit a plan for sending police officers to New York for training.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024