ISLAMABAD: Four grade 17 officers from the Police Services of Pakistan (PSP) have been appointed sub-divisional police officers (SDPO) of the capital’s new model subdivisions.

Assistant superintendents of police (ASP) Sarfraz Ahmad Virk, Farooq Ahmad Butter, Farooq Ahmad Bajrani and Abdul Wahad Khan have been appointed SDPOs of Banigala, Kohsar, Bhara Kahu and Industrial Area, which were recently declared model subdivisions.

The responsibilities and job descriptions of model subdivision SDPOs have yet to be finalised, but they have been given all the powers and responsibilities conferred on station house officers under the 1861 Police Act.

Each SDPO will be assisted by four police officials, two of the inspector rank and two of the sub-inspector (SI) rank.

The inspectors will be responsible for supervising investigations and watch and ward, which were previously the domain of SHOs. SIs will look after the budget and accounts and the front desk.

SHOs who were working at these model subdivisions when they used to be police stations have been transferred.

The former Industrial Area SHO has been transferred to Aabpara, the former Bhara Kahu SHO to Kural and the former Banigala SHO to the Bhara Kahu model subdivision’s investigation cell.

The former Kohsar SHO has been placed in charge of the watch and ward call at the same station.

The model subdivision project was first implemented in a few cities, including Lahore and Peshawar, during the Musharraf regime, but police officers told Dawn that it was shelved within a few months when it proved unproductive.

Under Police Order 2002, a grade 17 officer can be appointed station house officer, but the Islamabad police operate under the 1861 Police Act, the 1934 Police Rulesand the 1898 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

According to CrPC section 551, police officers superior in rank to an officer in charge of a police station may exercise the same powers throughout the local area where they have been appointed as may be exercised by such officers within the limits of their stations, officers said.

But, they said, superior officers – from the rank of ASP and deputy superintendent of police to inspector general of police – never exercise these powers because they do not want to take responsibility.

SHOs are responsible for a significant amount of police work, from signing investigation reports and charge sheets to appearing in court during trials, along with producing evidence, officials said. They added that SHOs are also responsible for the law and order situation in their area.

These responsibilities have been transferred to the new SDPOs or to the inspectors working with them at model subdivisions in the new setup, they said.

They added that a few amendments are needed in the rules and the CrPC, as is a notification or legislation declaring a police station a model subdivision and making SDPOs in charge of them instead of SHOs.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2019