THE law and order situation in Lahore that has assumed horrific proportions, sends a chill down one's spine. Just the previous day, there have been at least 58 incidents of robberies and street crime in which citizens from different parts of the city were deprived of millions of rupees. Most of the robberies occurred in Samanabad, Nawan Kot, Iqbal Town and Badami Bagh, the areas where the crime graph has steadily risen over the past many months. The Police high-ups would have to make a choice. They could either confine themselves to their offices, which they have turned into heavily guarded fortresses, indifferent to what is going on in the city, though not ignorant, or they could set things right in the police stations across the city. Terrorist networks like the TTP are well organized, equipped with sophisticated weapons and thus it might be a bit hard for the security apparatus to nail them down, so goes the police version, but street crime, which is an altogether different phenomenon, cannot be condoned under any circumstances. It speaks volumes about the failure of the police to carry out its basic duty. Besides, it puts a big question mark on the pledge made by Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif that he would do away with the decadent thana culture.