LAHORE, July 10: Faisalabad, the home district of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, and Lahore, the home of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, grabbed the top two places on street crime chart of Punjab districts in 2010 with 1,015 and 655 registered cases, thus constituting 73 per cent of the total crime of the province, according to official data.

An official correspondence shared with all field police officers in April 2011, Provincial police chief Javed Iqbal showed his concern over the increasing street crime throughout the largest populated province.

Statistics show that in 2010, 2,277 cases were reported with police in which 723 (32 per cent) were related to wallet snatching, 982 (43 per cent) cash snatching and 572 (25 per cent) were about snatchings of other effects.

The most affected districts were: Faisalabad (1,015 cases), Lahore (655 cases), Multan (238 cases), Bahawalpur (139 cases), Rahim Yar Khan (72 cases), Sialkot (63), and other districts were reported with 95 cases.

Mr Iqbal wrote to police officers: “A cursory review of the figures and reports being highlighted in electronic as well as print media requires us to have a focused and uniform strategy to counter and combat this type of crime.”

The top police boss also outlined a few guidelines for effective anti-street crime policy.

“Effective and fast response and surveillance, appropriate use of information technology, adequate appointment of resources and professional deployment of force will lead us to tangible results in combating street crime and other sensational offences.

“Hence all RPOs/DPOs should sensitize the officers about their role and encourage them to believe that their efforts can yield positive results. They should feel a greater sense of ownership and commitment. The beat officers need to be aware of the importance of intelligence gathering, questioning of previously recorded criminals and identification of potential informers.

They should garner cooperation and active involvement of all operational officers, not just members of specialist teams, and must be allied to ‘pro-active’ and reactive policing.”

The directives conclude: “Energetic and early intervention can deter criminals from emerging in criminal activities and halt their criminal careers at an early stage.” The letter directs RPOs and DPOs to take personal interest in the matter, monitor the impact and efficiency of their efforts and send an analysis report after three months.