LAHORE, Nov 29: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said on Wednesday police had been given all necessary facilities and now it was their duty to cultivate a sense of security among people.

Reforms had been introduced in the policing system to protect the life and property of people and curb crime, he said and added that there was still a room for improvement in police working. He was talking to National Police Academy’s under-training police officers, who visited his secretariat.

He said the recently established police patrolling posts were playing an important role in reducing crime on highways, removal of encroachments and provision of relief in case of accidents.

More steps were being taken to further improve the network of patrolling posts whose establishment had reduced crime by 37 per cent, he said. One ambulance was being provided to every 10 posts, he added.

The chief minister said the Punjab government had increased police budget from Rs6 billion to Rs30 billion. He said basic changes had been made in police training system to get positive results from the reforms.

He said a separate prosecution department had been established to pursue cases in a better way and get the criminals punished from the courts of law. This accelerated the pace of provision of justice to people, he added.

The chief minister said community participation had been ensured to fight street crime. A new traffic management system was being introduced to improve traffic in big cities in the province, he added.

He said solid steps had been taken for the welfare of the heirs of police officers who lost life in the line of duty.