A MILITARISED law enforcement — such as that we have been witnessing in Karachi for nearly three years — may improve the situation in the short term, but it is not conducive to a sustainable peace.

Fortunately, the apex committee in its meeting in Karachi on Thursday is developing a new strategy which aims to enhance the strength and capabilities of the city’s police force.

Additional personnel numbering 20,000 are to be inducted — 8,000 of them for Karachi alone — who will undergo training by the army.

It was also decided to make efforts to procure modern techniques of investigation and forensic analysis to further augment the force’s capacity.

Statistics that emerged from the apex committee meeting show that targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom and extortion have come down by 80pc since the Rangers-led operation began in September 2013.

To cement those gains, however, requires a rethink of how the police should function in Karachi.

Cronyism and politicisation of the force since years has degraded the quality of personnel: a policeman beholden to his benefactors has interests other than fighting crime.

In an environment where even recruitment at constable level can be contingent upon the ‘right price’, a thorough cleaning out of the stables is required.

To some extent, this has been set in motion, with the Supreme Court having ordered NAB to investigate the former Sindh police chief’s recent admission that 5,000 of 12,000 appointments in the force were illegal. It is also necessary now for the Rangers to retreat and let the police take the lead.

It is for good reason that in any well-ordered society, the police are considered the first line of defence where citizens’ rights to life and property are concerned.

Unlike the Sindh Rangers, which is a federal force whose officers are from the army and therefore susceptible to a certain lack of ‘local’ sensitivity, police cadres are drawn from the communities themselves.

They have their finger on the pulse of their neighbourhoods where they are posted, and are invested in the latter’s well-being.

Here it is also pertinent to question — notwithstanding that a militarised approach to justice and law enforcement is increasingly being perceived as the gold standard — whether the army trainers will have the capacity to train policemen in investigation and policing.

This city deserves a police force recruited through proper procedures and given the right tools and training to meet the rigorous demands of its job.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2016