Perspectives on proposed metropolitan police setup
1. All units of Police, operational and auxiliary (Traffic, CIA, Special Branch, Administration, Reserves, Crime, Recruitment, and Training) shall be grouped under KMPD Chief (Additional 1 G Police).
2. KMPD Chief shall be responsible to a Public Safety Commission comprising the following
a) Chief Minister or his nominee to be the Chairman
b) One MPA from the Treasury to be nominated by Leader of House.
c) One MPA from opposition to be nominated by Leader of Opposition.
d) Four members from amongst eminent professionals to be nominated by the Governor
3. The Commission shall perform the following functions
a) To Police the Police
b) To secure the system from political and external interference
c) To recommend Police Reforms
d) To ensure efficiency of Police operations.
e) To propose Metropolitan Chief
4. The direction and control of the Metropolitan Police rests with the Chief who will have a fixed tenure of three years. He shall have full administrative including transfer and postings and financial powers.
5. CPLC shall assist KMPD in
a) Traffic Education and enforcement
b) Community Policing.
c) Syndicate Crimes and Crime Record Management
d) Foreigners Registration
e) Police control Rooms and Computer network
f) Liaison between Police and Public
6. There shall be an Internal Affairs and Audit Wing for accountability.
7. The system shall be enforced though Karachi Metropolitan Police Act.
8. The funding shall come from Federal / provincial Government and private sources.
OPERATIONAL IMPLICATIONS:
Karachi badly needs Police revamping and reorganization to meet with the present day challenges. It certainly needs a well- equipped system backed by computerised data bank and quality manpower to deal with terrorism and crime syndicates. simultaneously, there is a need for greater checks and accountability. The proposed system apparently have all these ingredients and probably may deliver given the right man for the right place provided it is implemented at proper time with strong checks. However, following implications may be kept in view while finalizing the scheme.
1. Constitutionally, maintenance of Law and Order is the responsibility of the State or the Provincial Government. Can it be left to a Commission where majority members shall be nominated by the Governor.
2. How the Government will respond to a demand that KMPD should be placed under the Lord Mayor? What will be the status of Provincial Government vis-a-vis its responsibility to maintain law and order under the law and the constitution?
3. The proposed system intends to eliminate self perceived duality of control on the one hand and introducing multiple control system given the composition of the Commission each pulling the system in its own direction. The experiment of recently constituted Committee for law and order was not a success.
4. The proposed system do not envisage any role for the Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner. these posts have to be either abolished or their role have to be redefined which will require restructuring of General Administration and Revenue Administration at least in urban areas.
5. The proposed system will bring two different systems in the same province. In these circumstances, the relationship between the I.G. Police of the Provincial and KMPD Chief has to be clearly defined.
6. The present manpower operational level is mostly corrupt and inefficient. If the same is put to operate the new system it may bring about disastrous results. There is an urgent need for large scale screening.
7. The proposed system to succeed may require power that are available to Military Commander to maintain efficiency and discipline.
8. The system will require greater checks and balances at all levels to make it more effective and result oriented.
9. The decision has to be taken about the Secretariat of the Public Safety Commission to establish link between the KMPD and the Provincial Government. The proposed system does not indicate anything about this.
10. Prosecution has to be made independent of KMPD as in other countries practising Metropolitan Policing System to scrutinize the investigation skill of the Police instead Police throwing half cooked cases in the Courts and shifting the blame.
11. How the proposed system shall deal with pressure groups forming unlawful assembly or processions or agitation on various issues? Use of force will have its repercussions.
12. The proposed system vests all magisterial powers in the Chief KMPD presently being exercised by the District Magistrate or the executive Magistrate.
13. How the link between the people and the government shall be established in times of providing relief or dealing with natural calamities once the posts of DCs/Commissioners are abolished?
14. Separation of judiciary from the executive has seriously effected the executive and resulted into breakdown of administration. Separation of Police from the executive is likely to lead to a collapse situation as the police shall be independent of Executive Authority.
15. The proposed Policing System will also require an efficient and responsive subordinate judiciary, otherwise the system may not deliver the desired results. Police is facing serious problems in obtaining Remand and having confessional statements recorded.
16. Different pay scales for urban and rural police will cause resentment and may huge series of demands by all other service groups for similar pay package which may require huge financial resources.
17. Issues relating to horizontal mobility (from urban areas to interior and interior of Sindh to urban areas) of officers and officials need to be sorted out.
18. Present prisons System need to be organized on the lines of reformatories to rehabilitate the convicts after completing their sentences inland of making the final offenders more criminals.
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Give that the above bugs are removed, the system may be implemented in phases under:
PHASE-1:
1. Revamp the Police by
i) Procuring operational vehicles
ii) Procuring Communication and Computer equipment
iii) Establishing Forensic Science Lab
iv) Procuring Anti-Riots equipment, Arms and Ammunition.
2. Recruitment against existing vacancies through Sindh Public Service Commission
3. Take steps to rectify Officers-Subordinate ratio
4. Upgrade and equip Training Schools specially Anti-Terrorist Training Centre at Razzakabad for producing elite force
5. Take measures to weed out corrupt and inefficient elements on war footing
6. Computer networking
7. Impart training for behavioural and attitude changes
PHASE-II:
1. Regroup the departments and operational as well as auxiliary units as proposed in the presentation
2. Workout the manpower required to man these units, induct or recruit and train them
3. Apportion assets and liabilities between KMPD and rest of Sindh.
4. Develop linkages, both horizontal and vertical within the CPO as well as with Provincial Government and the Local Government
5. Reorganize Operational units, i.e. Police Stations / Police Divisions.
6. Fine tune the relevant laws and proposed amendments. Place them before the legislature for approval. Traffic laws. CrP.C. and Evidence Laws will be amended by the Parliament and Metropolitan Police Act shall be approved by the Provincial Assembly.
7. Develop data bank relating to all subjects and update
8. Formation of the proposed Commission
9. Establish Secretariat of the Commission preferably in the Home Department to keep the Provincial Government in picture.
10. Restructure subordinate judiciary for speedy dispensation of justice.
11. Reorganize Prisons System on the lines of the lines of reformatories with a programme of rehabilitation
PHASE-III
1. Enforce and practice the proposed system with the adaptation mentioned above.
2. Institutionalize the coordination and the development oriented rule of the deputy commissioners as in India. They should act as overseeing officers on the behalf of the Government.
1. The CPLC proposal does not mention the rank of Additional IGP to head the KMPD.
It shall be headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP).
2. KMPD Chief shall be responsible to a Public Safety Commission comprising the following:
a. Chief Minister or his nominee to be the Chairman.
b. One MPA from the Treasury to be nominated by Leader of the House.
c. One MPA from opposition to be nominated by Leader of the Opposition.
d. Five members from amongst eminent professionals to be nominated by the Governor.
e. CPLC Chief as ex-officio member.
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YES WILL DELIVER
1. The proposals of CPLC for creating a commission is in no way ultra vires of the Constitution or the law. The Commission itself as a body would be under the guidance and control of the Chief Minister (Provincial Govt). In fact Chief Minister or his nominee has been proposed to head the Commission. Not only that, the commission is expected to place its annual performance before the Provincial Assembly for its evaluation and future guidance. The responsibilities of maintenance of law and order will continue to rest with the Provincial Government.
2. Not demanded by the CPLC. See S. No. 1 above
3. The proposed system provides for a single control system of the Provincial Govt. through the Public Safety Commission. Members will not act as individuals and will only act as a unified body. The comparison of the recently constituted committee for law and order with the proposed Commission is not relevant, as the Committee was a bureaucratic Committee whereas the Commission would comprise of notables from the public. The home departments contention on the contrary strengthens the proposal for the function of KMPSC.
4. Necessary administrative restructuring of these posts will have to be done by the Government, in the Metropolitan areas.
5. The relationship has been clearly defined in the proposed Metropolitan Police Act.
6. The screening of corrupt and inefficient members of Police is a requirement of any system. Better mechanism will be provided by the Metropolitan Public Safety Commission.
7. Misconceived. Only powers necessary to maintain efficiency and discipline in the force.
8. Checks and balances have been proposed at all levels through a linear chain of command. The system has been tried and proven successfully in many countries.
9. The Office of the Chief KMPD will provide the Secretariat of Public Safety Commission. The Commission will have the same linkages with the Provincial Govt. as other commissions (e.g. Public Service Commission).
10. Agreed. The Metropolitan Police Act envisages the creation of an independent prosecution service.
11. The proposed Metropolitan Act clearly lays down responsibilities and powers of the police officers to deal with the unlawful assemblies and processions. Necessary amendments in CrPC have been proposed.
12. Misconception. The proposed system gives only such Magisterial powers to the police officers of KMPD which are necessary to deal with unlawful assemblies and agitations. The remaining Magisterial powers of the District Magistrate shall rest with the competent courts.
13. KMPD in co-ordination with the Relief Commissioner will provide help and relief.
14. Separation of judiciary from the executive is an internationally accepted principle. This has also been incorporated in the Constitution. It is rather strange that an observation has been made contrary to this basic and fundamental principle of good governance. The implementation of this principle has not resulted in to the breakdown of Administration in any country. Metropolitan system of policing is functioning successfully in many countries.
15. This observation implies that the existing policing system requires an inefficient and insensitive subordinate judiciary. Any system of policing has to be supported by an efficient and responsive independent (not subordinate) judiciary for efficient administration of criminal justice system.
16. Grant of special allowances to different functional units as per their working conditions is in practice even today in Sindh police itself. The examples are Special Branch, Training Institutions and Katcha Police Stations.
17. Necessary rules relating to horizontal mobilities shall be framed by the Public Safety Commission in consultation with the IGP Sindh.
18. This observation has no relevance with the proposed Metropolitan system. However, it will be taken up separately along with other Reforms of the Jail system.
The system may be implemented as per following plan:
PHASE-I:
1. Promulgation of Karachi Metropolitan Police Act/Ordinance.
2. Formation of Karachi Metropolitan Public Safety Commission.
3. Selection/designation of KMPD Chief.
4. Establish Secretariat of the Commission in the KMPD Headquarters.
5. Fine tune the relevant laws and the proposed amendments in Cr.P.C. Evidence Act, Traffic Laws.
6. Organise functional/branches of KMPD i.e. CID, Administration, Special Branch, Central Reserves etc.
7. Apportion assets and liabilities between KMPD and the remaining Sindh Police.
8. Re-organizing operational units i.e. Police Stations/Police Division.
9. Work out the manpower required for various units and distribute existing human/physical resources.
10. Impart the training of behavioural and attitude changes.
PHASE-II:
1. Take measures to weed out corrupt and inefficient elements on war footings.
2. Revamp the police by:
i) Procuring operational vehicles.
ii) Procuring Communication and Computer equipment.
