THE law and order situation in Lahore is extremely unsatisfactory. There have been a number of incidents and all of which point to the shoddy performance of law enforcement agencies. In the first incident, the police roughed up students of Islamia College Civil Lines. In another, the lawyers thrashed a police official for interfering in a case. Apart from this, there have been robberies and street crime across the provincial capital in which citizens were deprived of cash and valuables. Last but not the least, Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, bothered by the rampant lawlessness remarked that the outlaws were having a field day in the city. These incidents point to the fact that there is something seriously wrong with the way the police work. Since criminals and thugs continue to go about their unlawful ways, the perception that the department has been unable to stop the rising graph of crime keeps gaining currency. CJ Lahore High Court got it right when he observed that the police should feel their responsibility too and that he could not keep taking suo moto notices indefinitely. The police must set their house in order so that the judiciary is not forced to poke its nose in the affairs of the executive. The provincial set-up with Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif at the helm who took office amid promises of eliminating the notorious thana culture and turning the police into a professional force has to pull up the concerned agencies to honour that commitment. One way to keep a check on errant police officials ensuring that they attend to their jobs with commitment is to introduce a system of checks and balances. Likewise, the department's effectiveness would considerably increase if special wings like the Elite Force and other commando units used for the security of politicians and the bureaucracy are detailed to take care of the safety of the general public.