RAWALPINDI: More than 40 sub-inspectors (SI) and 197 assistant sub-inspectors (ASI) have been sitting idle, causing losses to the national exchequer for the last couple of months, because of delays in their training.

Every probationary police official must complete a yearlong probationer’s training court at the Police College in Sihala, followed by a three month long ‘A’ course and six week ‘B’ and ‘C’ courses.

The yearlong training in Sihala covers basic policing: law, police rules, practical work, investigation report writing (misal), physical training and Elite Force training.

The ‘A’ course covers judicial working under the supervision of a district and sessions judge, followed by the ‘B’ course which involves working with the establishment branch and Police Lines and then the ‘C’ course, which is the comprised training of police officers.

After the three training courses are completed, trainee assistant sub-inspectors (TASI) are posted at various police stations to complete their operational training, or the ‘D’ course, which lasts 20 months.

However, probationers recruited from Sihala in 2011 are still completing their ‘C’ course, despite a lapse of five years. Of the 197 ASIs, 137 probationer ASIs who began their training at the Sihala police college in 2013 are still completing the ‘A’ course, which is supposed to last three months.

Meanwhile the TASIs who joined probationer’s training at the police college in 2013 and had been passed out in a year are also still completing the ‘A’ course. Police probationers have attributed the delay to a lack of interest on the part of police higher-ups.

TASIs who passed out from the college around eight months ago are also still completing the ‘A’ course, while SIs who passed out from the college in August 2015 are now on the ‘B’ course.

“Sometimes, under-training police officials have to please the clerks in order to get their next course started, because they can easily convince the CPO or RPO to get permission to start the next course,” an ASI who is still completing the training said.

A group of SIs who were due to start the ‘B’ course managed to get permission from the city police officer (CPO), but when the regional police officer (RPO) – who is empowered to give permission for a training course to commence – was angered at the commencement of the course because he was bypassed.

The RPO then withdrew permission for the course, and directed the concerned department to conduct an ‘A’ course examination for all the SIs who had already begun the ‘B’ course with the CPO’s permission, losing the SIs around three months.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2016