The government’s extravagant spending on infrastructure can be considered to be a step forward in the development of a state, but, other institutions like the police have to bear the brunt of increased cost cutting. The police authorities are like the orphan child of our state with limited resources to its disposa,l but a responsibility to uphold the criminal justice system. The limited resources granted to the police departments are not sufficient enough to cater to even the basics necessities. Take for example, transporting suspected criminals to and from their prisons to the court for their hearings. The other day I saw two police officials transporting a handcuffed suspect on a motorcycle to court. Upon reaching the gate of court premises, one of the police officials took off and the other officer took the suspect in.After the suspected criminals’ hearing the same policeman was seen taking him back to police station on a QingchiRikshaw .
Considering such a situation, one may conclude that escaping police custody is as easy and convenient as one may hope. It is because of this that high suspect escape is on the go across Pakistan. The concern deepens when suspect trialed under Anti-Terrorism courts easily walk off and police hardly has any facilities to immediately recapture the run off.
Across Pakistan the under trial persons are managing to escape courts quite easily. A suspect under trail at the Karachi anti-terrorism court for possessing explosives and attempting to cause explosion, escaped. Some may blame that Karachi ATC is located in the Sind Secretariat that makes it easy for the suspects to evade custody there. Thinking logically that alone is not the problem. The police are responsible to transport suspects and hold them safely to and from the premises of the court in police vans or specifically designed vehicles.
The other point being, if the police is aware of the grave nature of crime committed by the suspect, then the state should be more cautious and protective of the safety provided to the suspect. Do the police departments actually lack the strength in numbers or is the state unwilling to take action regarding such issues?
The most recent was when three under trail persons escaped the court premises in Lahore. Despite their bail applicator rejected by the court the three congratulated each other saying their bail plea was accepted by the court. Further, the police guards did not even ask court authorities about bail pleas of the prisoners allowing them to easily escape. A similar case arose in July where an Assistant Sub Inspector of police alone took two suspected illegal residents for appearance in court. On the way back while the official was busy commuting with a shopkeeper the suspects ran off. These incidences are pure negligence on the part of the police that could and potentially leads to easy escape of the suspect.
The aftermath of such incidences is much worse. Responsible police officials are either suspended or placed behind bars and a committee is formed to review and report upon the incident. Beyond these measures the police authorities are incapable of thinking and acting.Flaws are rarely highlighted, mismanagement prevails, negligence continues to mark police performances; consequently things remain the same and the police authorities remain comfortable in their daily routines.
The point being these incidents reflect that our institutions are weak and are marked by negligent behavior of our ‘capable’ officials. Precisely, thefactors ancillary to thecore reasons are given more importance that contributes nothing to the betterment of our system. Police reforms is an evergreen debate yet has hardly proved fruitful. The reforms are either not acceptable to the government or as in most cases unfavorable to the police itself. The reason being the system is established with such flaws and change is unacceptable to the maximum extent. The best ways to function are the established practices whether flawed or otherwise with no intention to innovate or reform.