Economic Growth through Inclusive Institutions- A Study of Indian Police Force

Anil Kumar - MIDP

Sanford School of Public Policy

Assisting Development – PUBPOL 515S

ASSISTING DEVELOPMENT

THROUGH INSTITUTIONAL

REFORMS Economic Growth in India through inclusive institutions –

A Study of Police Force

PUBPOL515S Research Paper- Draft Anil Kumar

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Executive Summary

India is at the cusp of high growth with potential to grow at 9% annually (PWC, 2014). PWC report

suggests that India is likely to become $10 Trillion economy over next two decades. Effective

institutions are very important for any country to help achieve high growth. Presently India is passing

through a period of social and political churning. Hyper-active media, a liberal and active civil society

armed with freedom of expression and new legislations promoting transparency, like ‘Right To

Information Act1’, are scrutinizing the actions and decisions of the government like never before. The

credibility of public institutions is being suspected, e.g. more than 60 % people do not have confidence

on police acting impartially (Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 20). Institutions need to adapt to changing

need of society and its aspirations.

Law enforcement and securing property rights is an important ingredient to enable a country to

achieve high economic growth. World Bank suggests that one of the important factors for achieving

economic growth is effective enforcement of rule of the law through effective institutions. (World

Bank, 1999). Indian Police force has been considered corrupt, brutal and ineffective to deal with

crime. Scenes, like the image below are common and create negative public

Police apathy and brutality towards citizens; (Picture courtesy (Sirohi, 2014, p. 33))

1 Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005 is a legislation "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to

information for citizens". www.righttoinformation.gov.in


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image. This paper undertakes the causal analysis of the background and conditions in the Police,

which has resulted into making it such institution. Police, not only suffers from poor public image,

its own employees are leaving the organization due to poor morale and working conditions2.

To find suitable strategies, study of United Kingdom Police and also that of the reforms carried out

in Indonesia Police has been undertaken. Summary analysis of various reports on Police reforms by

National Police Commission and other experts committees has been presented. The decision of

Supreme Court in Prakash Singh3 case is very important for police force and police reforms per-se.

Owing to institutional, budgetary and legislative constraints, most of the directives of Supreme Court

and recommendations by other committees, are yet to be implemented. The study, therefore, looks at

possible alternate strategies based on human resource initiatives and institutional initiatives which do

not require much budget, and yet are expected to result in substantial improvements.

Globally police has been recognized as an agency responsible towards its citizens with emphasis on

community policing, effective channels of communications between citizens and police force and

disciplined constabulary which instill confidence. Similar practices with adaptation to suit Indian

conditions, can form the basis of modern police force in India.

Strong political will to implement police reforms in letter and spirit as per Supreme Court judgement

is absolutely necessary. The present situation enjoins Union Government to take suitable initiatives,

for suitable legislative reforms in various legislations dealing with police functions and institutional

structure.

Union government also needs to create consensus with various state governments to carry out police

reforms in a time bound manner. Active civil society and continuous monitoring by the Supreme

Court, is likely to be the catalyst for effectuating necessary institutional drift for reforms. The present

period, therefore can turn out to be very important for long term development of India.

2 Who wants to be a cop anyway, Times of India April 20, 2007 website accessed on October 24, 2014 3 Civil writ petition no. 316 (SC) in 1996 by 2 retired IPS officers Prakash Singh and N.K. Singh in Supreme Court for

issuing orders to Central Government to implement NPC recommendations. Known as Prakash Singh case. SC issued

judgement in September 2006.


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Table of Contents Introduction: ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

Effective Law enforcement: Key to economic growth ....................................................................................... 6

Law enforcement in India and Police establishment ..................................................................................... 7

Core Functions: .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Non-Core functions .................................................................................................................................... 9

Public perception and Organizational issues ................................................................................................. 9

What causes poor public perception? ......................................................................................................... 11

Non-observing the due process: .............................................................................................................. 11

Torture: .................................................................................................................................................... 11

Corruption: ............................................................................................................................................... 11

Bias and discrimination: ........................................................................................................................... 12

Failure to register cognizable offence: .................................................................................................... 12

Causal Analysis: Demystifying the reasons .................................................................................................. 12

Political interventions: ............................................................................................................................. 12

Lack of oversight institutions ................................................................................................................... 13

High Number of laws with myriad issues and provisions: ....................................................................... 13

Poor Human resource facilities and opportunities: ................................................................................. 13

Police in other countries .................................................................................................................................. 14

United Kingdom ........................................................................................................................................... 14

i. Neighbourhood policing: ................................................................................................................. 15

ii. Peelian Principles: ............................................................................................................................ 15

Structure .................................................................................................................................................. 16

Recruitment and training: ........................................................................................................................ 17

Promotions: .............................................................................................................................................. 17

Community Policing: ................................................................................................................................ 18

Indonesia ...................................................................................................................................................... 18

Reforms- the New Paradigm: ................................................................................................................... 19

Blue book- roadmap for a professional force: ......................................................................................... 19

Structure: ................................................................................................................................................. 20

Community Policing: ................................................................................................................................ 20

International support and Current Status: .............................................................................................. 21

Policy recommendations for Police reforms.................................................................................................... 21

Recommendations of National Police Commission for Police reforms ....................................................... 22

NPC: First Report ...................................................................................................................................... 22


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NPC: Second Report ................................................................................................................................. 23

NPC: Third report ..................................................................................................................................... 23

NPC: Fourth Report .................................................................................................................................. 23

NPC: Fifth Report ..................................................................................................................................... 24

NPC: Sixth Report ..................................................................................................................................... 24

NPC: Seventh Report ............................................................................................................................... 25

NPC: Eighth Report................................................................................................................................... 25

Recommendations of Ribeiro Committee: .................................................................................................. 25

Padmanabhaiah Committee Report: ........................................................................................................... 26

Supreme Court decision: Seven directives for Police Reforms .................................................................... 27

Status of implementation of Supreme Court Directives: ......................................................................... 28

Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................... 28

Human Resource Initiatives: ........................................................................................................................ 29

Institutional Initiatives: ................................................................................................................................ 30

Legislative and Policy initiatives: .................................................................................................................. 31

Learnings from UK and Indonesian Police and other global best practices: ............................................... 31

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 32

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................................... 33

Annexures ........................................................................................................................................................ 35

Annexure I .................................................................................................................................................... 35

Annexure II: Various entry levels and functional streams in Indian Police Force: ...................................... 36

Annexure III: Indian Police Hierarchy ........................................................................................................... 37

Annexure IV: Duties and functions of Police (Source- Bombay Police Manual): ......................................... 38

Annexure V : British Police Hierarchy .......................................................................................................... 39


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Introduction: India has come a long way since it became independent on August 15, 1947. The economy has been

growing and it has become the third largest economy4 globally. However, with more than 32%

Indians5 still below $1.25/person/day level, there is a huge challenge ahead. India has seen multiple

phases of development and growth since its independence in 1947. Constitution has provided for

equality of law, freedom of expression and fundamental rights. Initially the state took central role

with planned economy in an ISI based model. India became one of the top 15 countries in the world

in industrial production. (Prasad, 2002, p. 17). Indian planners undertook land reforms and planned

for green revolution during 1960’s and 1970’s. India undertook economic liberalization in 1991 which

has resulted into two decades of high growth. During this period there have been attempts to

transform/change the existing institutions and establish new institution for effective governance.

Presently India is going through a socio-political churning. A hyper active media, higher internet

penetration, increased awareness and information though transparent mechanism like ‘Right To

Information Act6’ (RTI) have raised public aspiration and expectation. The credibility of public

institutions is being questioned, e.g. more than 60 % people do not have confidence on police acting

impartially (Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 20). Public institutions need to adapt to changing need of

society and emerging economic scenario. If effective governance and stability is not achieved nations

can get obliterated e.g. USSR and Yugoslavia. (Prasad, 2002, p. 18). The economic reforms have

increased disparities and benefits of economic growth are not reaching out to poor/ neglected Indian

masses. India still have more than 1/3rd of global poor as per World Bank 20137 report. Establishment

of social justice and rule of law is still in theory and not achieved. Social violence in Urban and Rural

area is increasing (NCRB). Politicization of crime and criminalization of politics with increasing

number of elected representatives having criminal records8. India needs major structural shift and

institutional change in existing institutions to deliver effective governance. This requires determined

political will and administrative conviction (Prasad, 2002, p. 38).

4 Based on 2011, ICP data on GDP( PPP) World bank in April 2014, announced India as third largest economy of the world

overtaking Japan, behind only US and China http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/04/29/2011-

international-comparison-program-results-compare-real-size-world-economies 5 World Bank Povcalnet data 2009 figures for India. http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm?3 6 Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005 is a legislation "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to

information for citizens". www.righttoinformation.gov.in 7 India has 1/3rd of Global poorest as per World Bank report.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10003228/India-has-one-third-of-worlds-poorest-says-

World-Bank.html 8 An analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms and Election Watch in July 2103, showed almost 30 percent of

MP’s and MLA’s are having criminal record. http://www.rediff.com/news/report/survey-shows-1460-criminal-mps-

and-mlas-in-the-country/20130710.htm accessed on November 24, 2014


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The successful stories emerging from East Asian economies i.e. Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan,

suggest that a well-intentioned bureaucracy and administrative structure is an important constituent

for achieving growth (Doner et al., 2005, p. 333). India too has very competitive recruitment process,

a long term secured job, similar to these countries. However, there are significant differences in

institutional aspects, the promotion is not linked to merit and follows on a standard seniority list basis,

remuneration is fraction of rates in private sector and tenure in office is neither fixed nor long with

frequent transfers. Institutions in India have continued to function as they functioned during the

colonial era. The bureaucrats continue to work as per dictates of political bosses without much

attention towards ordinary citizens. In case an individual needs a service from state (license,

permission, registering an incidence or other government provided service), the effective outcome

depends on ‘key individuals’ and not the ‘key institutions’ you are dealing with. Procedures are kept

at bay and citizens have to depend on ‘key individuals’ or middlemen for solutions (Luce, 2008). The

institutional apathy towards citizen is widespread amongst most of the age-old institutions. .

Institutions are, however, very difficult to reform and change. (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2011).

Extractive institutions have vested interests which perpetuates themselves. Rajiv Gandhi in 1985-86,

the then Prime Minister of India, attempted bureaucratic reforms by seeking development of new

skills and induction of mid-career professionals from private sector. Excepting making some start in

this direction, he could not succeed in bureaucratic reform (Unnithan, 2014).

The issues are complex with myriad institutional structures for different cross sections of

establishment ranging from agriculture, services, licensing, police, municipal agencies etc. There are

diverse issues with different institution. Instead of broad based general analysis institutions we focus

on one institution i.e. Police Force. Police is an important public institution in India. It effects the

daily life of citizens in many different ways. In this paper we analyze the status and issues with police

as an institution and its functioning. We examine the best practices available in other countries. In

past, there have been many attempts with recommendations on police reforms through National Police

Commissions and other committees. The reforms, however, continue to remain on paper as our

analyses shows. Our analysis leads towards a set of recommendations for effective institutional

interventions. Using Police as an example, we look for possible interventions for other similar

structured government agencies which exhibit similar pathologies.

Effective Law enforcement: Key to economic growth

Enforcement of property rights has been one of the key factors for economic growth. Jarret Diamond

and Jeffery Sach refer to it as good government (governance), North, points to the institutions

establishing rules of the game (formal and informal) (North, 1990). Acemoglu and Robinson


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(Acemoglu, 2012, p. 74) refer to the establishment of property rights and rule of law as the basic

features of inclusive institutions. World Bank suggests that one of the important factors for achieving

economic growth is effective enforcement of rule of the law through effective institutions. (World

Bank, 1999).

One of the World Bank’s most exhaustive report on what poor feel, titled ‘Voices of the Poor’ clearly

indicates the threat of violence as the biggest fear of the poor. The violence referred to by the poor is

not the wars or large scale military action, but ‘the stronger neighbors harming the weaker’ (Haugen,

2014, p. 71). The authors further detail out as to how violence and fear of violence is common factor

across the global poor, whether they are living in a middle-income or low-income country. Lever and

Saenz describe that ‘economic growth is significantly related to property rights in a country’ terming

it as ‘De Soto hypothesis9’ (Lever, 2005, p. 158). A duly effective and functioning law enforcement

is the key to end violence and provide the poor with the opportunities for pursuing their goals freely.

(Haugen, 2014, p. 72). Therefore it is explicit that law enforcement and securing property rights are

important factors and require attention for achieving long term economic growth. Proper law and

order conditions and establishment of property rights provide equal opportunities and enable all

citizens (elite and poor alike) to pursue their livelihood.

Law enforcement in India and Police establishment

The prime function of law enforcement is enjoined upon criminal-judicial system with Police acting

as the frontal enforcement and implementation agency. The police establishment (or police

department or police) plays a very vital role in establishing rule of the law. Since independence, there

have been many changes in India’s policies and regulations. Independence has brought in changes to

political system and elected representation in local governance. The basic structure of establishment

and administration remains same as before. Indian police system continue to operate as per structure

created under Indian Police Act 1861. This structure was established by the British as colonial masters

to suit their own requirements (Kolsky, 2010, p. 4). Police remains primarily responsible towards

political executive on external front. Internally the hierarchical structure is inward centric i.e. the

lower police (constabulary) is responsible towards higher officers who belong to elite group of Indian

Police Service (IPS). IPS officers are selected by Union Public Service Commission through a

competitive examination, similar to the system as prevalent during pre-independence British regime.

(Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 5). Police system in India continues to be subservient to political masters

9 De Soto, Hernando (2000) The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else,

New York, NY: Basic Books.


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and powerful elite, ignoring the need of ordinary citizens, more-so, of the underprivileged. India has

a large and widespread police force with 2.2 million police personnel. (See Annexure I)

The police establishment comprises of a hierarchical set-up having 3 to 4 distinct levels (Annex II).

Hierarchical chart of Indian police is as placed on Annexure III. The organization structure is bottom

heavy with only 0.88 % of persons in senior officer category, and 11.51 % of total strength is from

upper subordinates. Constabulary constitutes 87.61 % of the organization making it a bottom heavy

institution. (CHRI, 2006, p. 30).

Figure 1- Police Organization structure: Bottom heavy (Data source – CHRI 2006)

As an institution, in India, the Police affects daily lives of citizens in many ways. Apart from law

enforcement, crime control and maintenance of law and order that is its prime responsibilities, it is

also responsible for the verification process necessary for issuing important government documents

such as Domicile certificate, Passport etc. Some employers seek verification from police before

offering a job to potential employees. In addition, citizens have to deal with police personnel at every

traffic junction or police check post. In rural areas, local Police Post (or Thana) also functions as an

informal court where the officer-in-charge tries to find a compromise or settlement for most of the

matters, which do not invite criminal law intervention, e.g. land dispute, right of way, etc. Police

verification helps citizens to prove eligibility for various beneficial schemes being offered by state/

federal government. Duties of police are ever increasing with a long list of duties and responsibilities

Senior Officers (Dy. SP to DG)

0.88 %

Upper Subordinates (Assitant Sub-Ins to Inspector) 11.51%

Constabulary 87.61 %


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(Annexure II) for detailed duties. In Indian context especially for semi-urban and rural areas Police

is an extremely important agency of the state.

In addition to basic duties, police has become responsible for some additional duties – escort and

security of Judges and courts, VIP (Very Important Persons) security, guarding vital installations,

hospital duties, testing for driver’s license, removal of encroachment, bandobast (general

arrangement) duties during examination, fairs, rallies, events, games and matches (sports) etc., Anti-

terrorism duties, Communication systems and handling of wireless communications, computerization

of records, handling of telephone calls etc. These police functions can be broadly classified into core

functions and non-core functions (Umranikar, 2009, p. 276):

Core Functions:

Maintenance of law and order, crime investigations, prevention of crime, regulation of traffic,

protection of threatened individuals (not establishments) and support to civil administration for

various functions including enforcement of socio-economic laws.

Non-Core functions:

Guarding duties, Protection duties, Special forces of local bodies, Prisoners escort, Execution of

summons, Court and other orderlies, Motor Transport, implementation of social legislations, traffic

and fire accidents (pure accidents), licensing for games (matches etc.), Computerization, Training

institutions, traffic regulations.

Public perception and Organizational issues

The police force is facing several issues. There are many complex functions allocated to police

requiring differing skill sets and long working hours. The colonial era structure is modelled on Irish

constabulary which is militaristic in its basic character. The purpose of police force during colonial

era was to control and quell any rebellion. After independence primary function of police remains to

control law and order situation.

The hierarchical structure continue to weigh heavily towards senior police officers who get good

promotions and salaries when compared to constabulary. The poor working conditions, difficult and

arduous working hours and ever advancing sophistication by criminal add to the discontent amongst

lower cadres. The institutional issues are affecting the morale of recruited personnel. As per basic job

conditions and recruitment rules, lower police personnel should get a promotion in ten years (Haider,


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2012, p. 3). Haider highlights that more than 6000 Constables and 2500 Head Constables in Delhi

police are waiting for their promotion for more than 15 to 20 years. At middle management level

more than 1000 ASI and similar number of Sub-inspectors are waiting for their promotions, which

are long overdue. Such apathetic conditions are resulting in large scale unrest leading sometimes to

exodus. The personnel selected as mid-level officers i.e. Sub-inspectors are leaving the job after 1-2

years to join other jobs even at lower salaries. 91 out of 300 sub-inspectors selected in 2004 had left

their job by 200710.

Indian constitution grant fundamental rights to its citizens. Fundamental rights enshrine respect of

basic rights of citizens, acknowledgment of fact that law and constitution is paramount and provides

explicit guarantees of civil and political rights (Srivastava et al., 2010, p. 11). Upholding of

fundamental rights for every citizen is basic function of police force. However even after more than

60 years of independence police has failed to uphold fundamental rights to most of its citizens

(Srivastava et al., 2010, p. 11). Failure to uphold basic rights and fulfill public requirements results

in dissatisfaction amongst public and poor public opinion. Sixty one percent of the people surveyed

across 11 district of Rajasthan were found to be unsatisfied with police performance and handling of

their issues (Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 20). As per the same survey, the perception of public about

police force is so poor that only twenty nine percent of crime victims visited police station to report

the crime.

Therefore there is an urgent need to pursue effective police reforms vigorously. Supreme Court while

recognizing the need for police reforms11 in has given detailed observations on functioning of police

and necessity of reforms including effecting training, creation of Police Commissions and Police

Complaints Authorities in each state. However despite the explicit directions there has been very

slow progress even after continuous monitoring by the Supreme Court (Human Rights Initiative,

2014). As noted by P.R. Rao, eminent senior lawyer in National Conference (February 2013) while

speaking on police reforms “There is an all-encompassing reluctance by the Executive and the

Legislature to provide enabling legislation. The courts are now constrained to issue general

directions for the enforcement of fundamental rights of the citizens. Sadly enough, the Governments

do not, at times, follow the comprehensive directions issued even by the Supreme Court to fill the

vacuum in law. Though carrying out reforms is the duty of the Executive and the Legislature and not

10 Who wants to be a cop anyway, Times of India April 20, 2007 website accessed on October 24, 2014 11 Civil writ petition no. 316 (SC) in 1996 by 2 retired IPS officers Prakash Singh and N.K. Singh in Supreme Court for

issuing orders to Central Government to implement NPC recommendations. Known as Prakash Singh case. SC issued

judgement in September 2006.


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of the Courts, the Courts are faced with a situation, where it has become necessary to issue directions

for police reforms but they are unable to secure implementation of those directives”

What causes poor public perception?

Public perceptions are formed over a long period. There is such a stereotype image created that more

than half the time, people do not report theft or vandalism (Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 18) . Some of

the most cited reasons as to why police is perceived to be a poor institution are as described below:

Non-observing the due process:

Constabulary behaves in a high-headed manner on many occasions without following due process of

law. Not following codified procedures (either due to lack of knowledge or due to high headed

attitude) has become one of the major issues (Rouch et al., 2005). Ill-executed actions include

detaining people without reasonable cause, keeping people in detention beyond permissible time

limits without producing the person in courts or even taking innocent family members hostage to

create pressure on culprit to surrender. The efficiency and image of police depends on the efficacy of

the beat constable(s) i.e. the man (e) at the spot. Their failure to observe the due process creates an

adverse perception. There are numerous court orders restraining/ reprimanding the police, yet either

due to lack of understanding the procedures or due to indifferent attitude, inappropriate police actions

continue.

Torture:

Torture of any kind is absolutely prohibited. India is a signatory to UN Convention on torture or other

cruel, inhuman or degrading treating, 1997, which prohibits any brutal or tortuous behavior by law

enforcement agencies. Yet stories of police torture keep emerging in various parts of country. Type

of tortures include burning with cigarette butts, punching and slapping, butting the head in water,

destruction of soft tissues with pliers, keeping tied or crouching on ice etc. (Rouch et al., 2005, p. 4).

Corruption:

Any agency which has discretionary powers with strong legal provisions has to deal with corruption.

Indian police is no different, and is rated as one of the most corrupt institutions in India by


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Transparency International12. Bribe is often a pre-requisite for registering case or to look away.

National Police Commission in its fifth report (1980) has identified corruption as a cause of concern.

Paying police to humiliate opponents or to include or omit a name from investigations is not

uncommon.

Bias and discrimination:

As the basic structure of organization is elitist and does not align itself to a citizen centric institution,

there are cases of bias and discrimination. Such biases effect the decision making as to how the

services are provided and more often than not, it is the poor, marginalized and vulnerable sections of

society who do not get justice. Organizational behavior stem from their composition. Less

representation of minorities of women results in discrimination against such unrepresented segments.

In India, where crime against women has very high proportions, women make up only 2.2 % of the

police force (Rouch et al., 2005, p. 8), also indicating towards a possible skew of organizational bias.

Failure to register cognizable offence:

In India police performance and efficiency is measured on the basis on number of crimes (with types

of crime classifications) registered at the police stations. This system itself seems to incentivize non-

registration of crime. It is evident from less number of people approaching to register a crime, that

there are impediments in registration process which discourage people from approaching the police.

Causal Analysis: Demystifying the reasons

Police like any institution, which has poor public perception, has a complex web of many failings.

Specific cause to each failure can’t be ascribed as it is result of many impediments acting in concert.

Such impediments create conditions that drift the institution away from their goals.

Political interventions:

Police continues to be responsible to the political executive. The process of posting, transfers and

assigning various duties provides many opportunities to political bosses to impact the functioning of

the organization. This aspect has been identified by National Police Commission in its various reports.

In addition Supreme Court also identifies this in its judgment in Prakash Singh (2006, 8 SCC 1) case,

12 A survey by Transparency International in December 2011, showed that 40.4 % respondents consider police as

corrupt. http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/politicians-cops-most-corrupt-survey-

111122300093_1.html accessed on October 28, 2014


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where it has suggested to constitute State Security Commission, Police establishment board and

tenure based transparent appointment of Director General of Police in various states.

Lack of oversight institutions

Organization structure where a Station House Officer is responsible to senior officers, who in-turn

are responsible to political executive, provides poor oversight mechanisms. Perhaps the greatest

public resentment and disappointment over bad policing is reserved for impunity - the safety from

punishment provided by authorities and supervisors to errant police and the lack of accountability. In

addition, this includes a boundless tolerance for poor performance in delivering safety and security

and protecting the rule of law. When deprived of the assurance of state protection, people do not have

the confidence to approach the police and instead increasingly opt for self-help.

World over, there are various initiatives to involve citizens in oversight mechanism to identify and

redress the issues. However in India there is no formal mechanism to encourage citizen oversight on

police performance. Even after 8 years of Supreme Court directions in Prakash Singh case to establish

Police Complaints Authorities, only 13 states have established such authorities at State Level (Diya

Nag, 2011, p. 74). However their functioning remains shrunken due to poor infrastructure

provisioning, lack of political will and weakness in legislations which lead to their setting up.

Infirmities also exist due to issues with their independence, composition, powers and resources (Diya

Nag, 2011, p. 68)

High Number of laws with myriad issues and provisions:

As there are plethora of laws, the lack of understanding of due process of law by the field personnel

is a major cause. The different functions of police require different skill sets. Evolving social and

economic growth patterns of society are also resulting in requirement of new skill by police to deal

with various situations. National Police Commissions in all their reports have suggested segregation

of police functions specifically separation of investigation and law & order duties.

Poor Human resource facilities and opportunities:

The organization is made up of its functionaries. There are internal structural and career related issues

which become root cause of organizational behavior. Banerjee et. al recognize four constraints on

Police institutions i.e. little means for senior officers to incentivize their staffs; little guidance on

human resource management with long and continuous duty hours (almost 24*7 work schedule with


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no weekly off); system of crime records itself is a source of perverse incentives; and lack of

accountability to and communications with public.

The people who have left the police job highlight poor and very slow carrier progression, incompetent

bosses, poor residential and canteen facilities and poor social esteem as the factors affecting the force.

Survey data (Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 43) categorize13 worst aspects of policing in order of most

worst to least as - i) long working hours (70%); ii) No day off (42%); iii) Low pay (32%); iv) Poor

housing quarters (24%); v) Posting away from home (20%); vi) No potential for promotion (16%);

vii) Unsteady/ unpredictable postings (15%); viii) No reward for hard work (15%); ix) Poor treatment

by or no respect from superiors (12%); x) Poor treatment/ disrespect from public (8%); and xi) Boring

work (4%).

The reason reflect the multiples issues which effect individual employees at middle and lower levels.

Poor working conditions can’t be expected to produce institutions with credible performance.

Police in other countries

However given the importance of establishing rule of law and property right in economic growth it is

imperative to consider various possible alternative to improve institution. The best way to find

effecting and lasting solution is by examining the reforms taken up by other countries. In this section

we analyze functioning of Police in United Kingdom and Indonesia.

United Kingdom

A police officer in United Kingdom (UK) is considered as an ‘Officer of Justice’ or an ‘Officer of

Peace’ and not a servant of the Crown (Umranikar, 2009, p. 144). Thus a police personnel on duty is

responsible for and answerable to the law alone and not to any public authority. No authority of the

Crown can guide or persuade him to prosecute or not prosecute a person. The authority of a police

officer is original and not delegated. Every sworn police officer in England and Wales is a ‘Constable’

regardless of rank. An officer derives his power from ‘office of Constable’ and thus he/she is not an

employee but an office holder who has personal liability for his action or inaction. This feature is the

cornerstone of the structure of UK police. Important operational aspects of UK Police are :

13 Survey data of 1961 police personnel. The %ge indicate choices by respondents. Multiple selection was allowed and

therefore these are not exclusive selections.


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i. Neighbourhood policing:

The British police relies on neighbourhood policing, in which a constable is closely associated

with a locality. Most of the citizens relate to this aspect of policing. The public perception of is

linked to visibility of police officers and staff. As a constable is attached to a neighbourhood for

a long time, he develops contact with public residing in the area, which develops confidence into

police. The system also benefits the police in gaining insightful intelligence about any scrupulous

activity in the community.

ii. Peelian14 Principles:

These are basic operating principles of British police. Together with neighbourhood policing,

these help in creating a positive public image. Peelian principles are listed as below (ACPO, 2012,

p. 2):

1. The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.

2. The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police

actions.

3. Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law

to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.

4. The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to

the necessity of the use of physical force.

5. Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion but by constantly

demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.

6. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore

order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.

7. Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the

historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being

only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are

incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

8. Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to

usurp the powers of the judiciary.

9. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence

of police action in dealing with it.

14 Named after Robert Peel, Prime Minister of UK in 19th century (1834-35; 1841-46), these are designed to create an

ethical police force or a community support approach i.e. policing by consent.


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Structure

The police is divided in 44 geographical units for England and Wales. Out of these 41 geographical

units are constabularies which are led by a Chief Constable. Chief constable is accountable to law, to

the home secretary for efficacy and effectiveness, and to oversight by Police and Crime Commissioner

who is elected by public. The Police and Crime Commissioner is subjected to oversight by Police and

Crime Panel. Thus though the constabulary is independent in its operations and investigations, they

are responsible to public through oversight and scrutiny by Police and Crime Panel and Police and

Crime Commissioner depicted in figure 2 below:

Figure -2: Public Oversight through Police and Crime Commissioner (Source-Home Office,

Association of Police Authorities)

In addition to geographical unit, UK police has specialized units viz. British Transport Police (BTP),

to provide policing for Railway operators, passengers and staff. BTP is responsible to British

Transport Police Authority which has members representing the passengers, the rail industry,

Scotland, England and Wales, appointed by Secretary of State for Transport. Similarly two other

specialized police forces are: Civil Nuclear Constabulary for protection of civil nuclear sites and

Ministry of Defense Police to provide policing for defense estate.


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The geographical units are also supported by specialized investigating unit as Criminal Investigation

Department (CID), Fraud squad, Cyber Security Wing, Traffic etc.

Recruitment and training:

Recruitment process in UK police is unique, as there is only one entry level for joining police force

i.e. as a police constable. A constable undertakes a training known as Initial Police Learning and

Development Program (IPLDP) which comprises of four

phases of training: Introduction, Community, Supervised

patrol and Independent Patrol. The single entry level has it

merits that every officer in the force is fully aware of and

experienced in field operations. A hands on working

experience at the field positions helps each and every

officer in his senior roles. In addition to IPDLP, a constable

is also provided with Continuing Professional Development

(CPD) and other ongoing training programs. The annual

performance and development review system is used to

assess and monitor the performance of a police officer for

ensuring that professional skills are kept up-to-date (ACPO, 2012, p. 6).

Promotions:

All officer enter as Constable in UK police, and on entry they are required to complete a two year

probation period before becoming eligible to be considered for promotion. After competing probation

a constable can opt for working in a specialist unit like CID, Fraud squad, drug squad etc. (Prospects,

2014)

The promotions in the department are through a rigorous mix of written tests and individual’s

performance and experience. Standard test, like Objective Structured Performance-related

Examination (OSPRE) are conducted periodically, and a pool of eligible constables is prepared who

are then picked up by respective forces as per available vacancy. In addition officers with high

potential can take up High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) (or Accelerated Careers

Development Scheme in case of Scotland). HPDS is designed to identify and develop future leaders.

Training and support is made available to individuals to improve their performance and knowledge.

To be considered, officers in these schemes must be able to demonstrate a real commitment to

operational policing as well as having the ability to assimilate knowledge, provide leadership and

make effective decisions. An officer who completes the HDPS process successfully, he may attain

level of Chief Inspector in seven years.

The minimum entry requirements for police constable: • Pass rigorous initial recruitment test • Be aged between 18.5 years and 55 years (age limit can vary depending on the force) • Be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen (whose stay in this country is not subject to restriction) • Be of good character • Be physically fit • Hold a full driving license (or be in the process of learning to drive). Source: (ACPO, 2012, p. 5)


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Community Policing:

United Kingdom has passed Police Reforms Act 2002 to further modernize the police force with

emphasis on community policing using the concept of extended policing family etc. This entails

participation of Community Support Officers (CSO’s), retired or part time police officers, special

constables, local wardens and private sector security patrol in maintaining law and order (Umranikar,

2009, p. 334). CSO’s are support personnel (as per section 38 of UK Police Act 2002), with limited

police powers to tackle public nuisance and to provide support to police officers and communities.

Special constables are volunteers who do not desire to join the police service, but wish to contribute

something for the welfare of their community. Most of the special constables work for a minimum of

four hours per week and have full police powers within their forces and surrounding area. Special

constables are suitably trained, wear similar uniform as police officers and are paid allowances.

Another category of support structure is that of volunteer cadets. Volunteers are those people who

become interested to join the police force when they are older. Volunteers are deployed in manning

the police stations during off hours, monitoring the CCV system, administrative work or to carry out

crime analysis etc.

UK Police Act 2002, has been made on the basis of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary

(HMIC) report 2001 titled ‘Open All Hours’. Along with Private Security Industry Act 2001, the

Police Act has laid the foundation for future police force with higher reliance on community support

in police functions and outsourcing of few functions. (HMIC, 2004, p. 41).

Indonesia

Indonesia began the process of political reform termed as Social Sector Reforms (SSR) in 1998 after

the end of ‘New Order’ era (1966-1998) i.e. General Suharto’s regime, who ran the country with the

support of military, bureaucracy and the military sponsored party Golkar15. During ‘New Order’ era,

Police was part of dual function military termed Dwifungsi ABRI16. Police as an institution was

understaffed, inadequately equipped and had a public image of being inefficient, ineffective, brutal

and corrupt. In addition working as part of military, police became subservient to military developing

a ‘younger brother’ mentality with low organizational self-confidence (Rahmawatti, 2006, p. 57). The

fall of Suharto’s regime, enabled Indonesian police to disassociate from military and become a

separate security agency. The process was both difficult and time consuming, as it took four years for

‘Polri’ (Indonesian Police) to formally separate from ABRI (Muradi, 2014, p. 1). In the initial years,

15 Golkar- Golongan Karya i.e. the functional groups. 16 Dwifungsi ABRI (Angkatan Bersnjata Republic Indonesia) – meaning dual function Armed forces of Republic of

Indonesia.


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the reforms produced an unstable political and administrative situation. There were violent conflicts

in many parts of the country. However strong political will by then president Megawati, and with

appointment of professional police chief17 in 2001, the situation started to improve and police reforms

were put on track.

Reforms- the New Paradigm:

The separation process, referred to as ‘New Paradigm’ comprised of (Rahmawatti, 2006, p. 58):

o the separation of the police from the military;

o the liquidation of social–political posts within the military at national and regional

levels;

o the replacement of the office of social and political affairs (Kassospol) with an office

of territorial affairs (Kaster);

o the winding down of the posts responsible for assigning active members of the military

to civilian positions;

o the requirement that military officers choose between military and civilian careers,

either through early retirement or through a tour of duty;

o the reduction of the number of military representatives in the national and local

parliaments;

o the termination of the ABRI’s involvement in day-to-day politics and change of

ABRI’s name to TNI18

o the severance of organizational ties with the Golkar political party and the adoption of

a stance that is equidistant from all political parties;

o the exercise of neutrality in elections; and

o A change of relationship between TNI and its affiliates.

Blue book- roadmap for a professional force:

The purpose of police reforms has been to transform INP into a prime institution responsible for

protecting the citizens and serving the community. INP published a ‘blue book’ addressing three

aspects of the reforms i.e. structural, instrumental and cultural issues. The reforms were aimed to

build a police force having strong institutional identity and a modern organization compatible with

professionalism and universal police standards with an orientation to serve public (Polri, 2014). Three

broad initiative of reforms were – reorientation to the ethic of police professionalism; reorganization

17 Bimantoro was appointed police chief vide decree no 60/2001. The new chief established his command by taking

strict disciplinary action against group of eight officers (Muradi, 2014, p. 82) (who supported earlier chief against

Bimantoro), resulting into their arrest. 18 TNI- Tentara Nasional Indonesia i.e. Indonesian National Military


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of the police institution to make it more independent, accountable and decentralized; and development

of institutional management to enable the institution to provide staff and personnel specialization.

Fair career prospects for each employee with job satisfaction was also one the identified goals.

Specific measures were introduced to strengthen the local ethnicity and connection of INP using the

policy of ‘Local boys for local jobs’ (Muradi, 2014, p. 112). This approach helped INP to tide-over

the problem of understaffing. In addition the policy helped in getting human resources which

understood the local society, could comprehend local characteristics and were accepted by local

public. The ‘blue book’ became the reference manual to the philosophy, the principles, the vision and

the mission, and the code of conduct of the police force. In addition, a development paper addressing

police force’s human resource requirement, structure, personnel management and community

policing issues was issued in year 2000.

Structure:

INP is organized on functional lines, the main operational divisions being (a) Intelligence and Security

(Intelpam); (b) Criminal Investigation (Reserse); (c) Patrol (Samapta); (d) Traffic (Lantas); and (e)

Community Guidance (Bimmas). The function of guarding and security for government and private

buildings and facilities is overseen by over 20000 private security guards (Satpam). In addition, there

are two kind of non-police investigators- a civil defense force (Hansip); and municipal force (Polisi

Pamongpraja). Thus INP has vertical command and administrative structure with specialized units

for different duties of a police force. Such structure creates institutional expertise and a focused result

oriented approach. The police force has a local unit based recruitment structure with focus on

strengthening the organization. The strength of police force has increased from 1,90,000 in 1998 to

3,87,470 as of December 2011 (jobsCDC, 2014). Promotions in the police force are through a

performance based evaluation system. The officers are admitted to various specialization schools

which ensures their promotion. The promotion process, however, is marred by corruption (Muradi,

2014, p. 94).

Community Policing:

The community focus in police functioning was introduced formally in the development paper issued

in late 2000. The community policing program is aimed at winning the trust of general public and to

receive active cooperation from public. Citizens actively help in monitoring local public security

issues and in providing oversight on police performance. The program is christened as COP (i.e.

Community Oriented Policing) and was adapted as a nationwide program vide Chief of Polri decree

no. Pol.: SKEP/737/X2005. The program is implemented by a local working group consisting of

public representative such as religious leaders, teachers, youth leaders and police officers working at

community level. The group conducts periodic meetings with local stakeholders to identify key social


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issues faced by their community. The group further coordinates with police to develop an action plan

to address such identified issues. The program have been quite successful in improving public

perception of police and also helped in reduction of crime by as much as thirty percent in some areas

(Asia Foundation, 2007).

International support and Current Status:

The reforms in INP have been considered as most vital in Indonesia’s transition to democracy. INP

leadership has been amenable to local and international institutional support in its endeavors to

improve situation of law and order. Center for Securities and Peace Studies at Gadjah Majda

University19 and International Crisis Group20 have been continuously engaged in advising and

deigning suitable training programs and guidance papers. Key international support programs are

Project T80 and Australia Indonesia Partnership for Justice (AIPJ). Project T80 is intended to

strengthen the rule of law and security in Indonesia. It is funded by the European Commission (EC)

and implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as lead organization

in partnership with Kemitraan (Partnership for Governance Reform, Indonesia), the National Policing

Improvement Agency NPIA, Bramshill, UK), and Charles Sturt University (Australia) as Associate

(UNODC, 2011). Indonesia-Australia Legal Development Facility (LDF) and Australia Indonesia

Partnership for Justice (AIPJ) are programs supported by AusAID (Australian Aid Agency). The

Australian support programs are designed to provide technical and financial support in capacity

building of various law enforcement institutions including courts and Jakarta Center for Law

Enforcement (Cox, 2012, p. 37).

The reforms in INP is one of the important constituent in improving public governance in Indonesia

which can be seen absence of Violence Indicator by World Bank21 rising from dismal 4.3 in 2004 to

28.9 in 2013.

Policy recommendations for Police reforms

The need for police reforms in India has been felt since almost 40 years. There is a long history of

police commission, various committees and their recommendation reports starting with the

appointment of the National Police Commission (NPC) in 1977. NPC’s terms of reference included

various aspects of police functioning such as police organization, its role, functions and

19 Center for Security and Peace Studies was established in 1996 at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Daerah

Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia. One of its focus is on supporting police reforms for strengthening democracy. 20 International Crisis Group- www.crisisweb.org/projects/indonesia 21 World bank – Governance Indicator Report –Country Data Indonesia


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accountability, relations with public, political interference, misuse of powers, evaluation

methodology for measuring performance etc. The commission produced eight reports during 1979 to

1981, suggesting wide ranging reforms. Though some state governments took cognizance of some of

the suggestions, and formed state level committee to examine and implement NPC recommendations,

the implementation has been superficial.

Subsequently, pursuant to a civil writ petition22 and some other cases, central government appointed

a committee on police reforms chaired by J.F. Ribeiro (former DGP Punjab Police) in May 1998. The

Ribeiro Committee submitted two reports in October 1998 and March 1999. Subsequently another

committee under Sh. K. Padmanabhaiah (former Home Secretary) was appointed in January 2000 to

look into the organization and functioning of the Police system. However as most of the

recommendations remained on paper, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment in September 2006,

in Prakash Singh vs Union of India case, issued directions for immediate compliance of seven points

till appropriate legislations are framed. Meanwhile, with the background of Supreme Court case on

police, Central Government in October 2005 appointed an eleven member committee headed by Soli

Sorabji (former Attorney General) to draft new Indian Police Act. The committee submitted its report

in October 2006, proposing new Model Police Act 2006. The Act was presented in Parliament in

November 2006.

Other notable attempts at examining the functioning of Police and suggested improvement were made

by Regional Workshops of Superintendents of Police held in 2005 and in the fifth report of 2nd

Administrative Reforms Commission released in 2008.

A summary of suggestions of NPC in its various reports, Ribeiro Committee recommendations and

Supreme Court directions are presented in next section.

Recommendations of National Police Commission for Police reforms

NPC: First Report

Constable should be made a respectable functionary with due sense of values, discretion and

judgement. As constable is the person at cutting edge level, his behavior determines the image of the

police. Therefore constable should interact with public and secure their cooperation by persuasion

and appeal for maintain public order instead of aggressive attitude towards public. The report

suggested improved service conditions and working environment for constables. In addition the report

suggested for instituting a mechanism of fair enquiry in cases of complaint against police through

departmental mechanism. However, in cases of alleged rape of a woman in police custody, death or

22 Civil writ petition no. 316 (SC) in 1996 by 2 retired IPS officers Prakash Singh and N.K. Singh in Supreme Court for

issuing orders to Central Government to implement NPC recommendations. Known as Prakash Singh case.


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grievous hurt caused while in police custody and death of two or more persons in police firing, NPC

recommended mandatory judicial enquiry.

NPC: Second Report

The report focused on basic role of the police, i.e. “to function as a law enforcement agency and

render impartial service to law, in complete independence”. The report also focused on immediate

need to examine procedural laws, role of police in enforcement of social legislations etc. The report

recommended legislation of new police act defining police duties for a modern police with

responsibility towards law and citizens centric approach. To make police functioning independent

from government, the report recommended for establishment of State Security Commission with

independent members to lay down a policy for performance of preventive tasks to control crime and

to evaluate police performance.

NPC: Third report

The third report focused on the police responsibilities towards the weaker sections of the society,

community coordination by forming village level defense committees and development of better

communication network. The report inter alia suggested:

• Establishment of Special investigation cell to monitor cases against Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes under the Protection of Civil Rights Act.

• Amendment of section 155 CRPC23 to protect members of weaker sections from exploitation

and injustice, by inserting provisions for effective police action in such cases.

• Creation of ‘village defense parties’ with sufficient powers to ensure effective involvement of

village community in self-defense, besides cooperating with local police.

• Guidelines on the use of handcuffs on persons under arrest.

• Establishment of a separate economic offence wing comprising of officers drawn from Police,

Sales Tax, Transport, Excise, Forests and Audit department, to deal with economic offences

including embezzlement of funds in Co-operative societies.

• Modernization of the Police, with acquisition of latest scientific equipments, development of

multi-channel wireless network, acquisition of vehicles and establishment of more Forensic

Science Laboratories.

NPC: Fourth Report

In its fourth report NPC focused on rights of citizens, human rights of person under custody and

development of scientific interrogation techniques. Some of the key suggestions are:

23 CRPC: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 deals with the procedure to be followed by police force.


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• Amendment of section 154 CRPC making in obligatory for a Police Station to register FIR

irrespective of its jurisdiction over the site of the crime.

• Examination of witness near the site of crime or their place of convenience instead of

summoning them to the Police Station. Sharing the copy of the recorded facts with the witness.

• Change in legal provisions to facilitate early return of recovered property, protected by

appropriate bond.

• To make it obligatory for the Police to inform about arrest of any person, to anyone named by

arrested person.

• Development of scientific interrogation techniques instead of using third degree24 methods.

• Surprise visit by senior officers in Police Stations to detect cases of illegal custody and to

prevent ill-treatment.

NPC: Fifth Report

It focused on recruitment, training, behavior and strengthening of number of women in police force.

• Recruitment should be made only at two levels i.e. Constable and Direct recruit officers

(Indian Police service, IPS).

• Integrated comprehensive training to Constables focusing on law enforcement, public dealing

and investigations. Constant evaluation of performance, attitude and behavior of new recruits

during training and ousting anyone who does not attain appropriate levels considered

necessary to become a good policeman.

• District Magistrate to be only a chief coordinating authority in district and police should not

be subordinate to him.

• Specialized training of existing police force to bring service oriented attitudinal changes.

• Women to become important part of police organization, especially to deal with the crime

against women and children. To recruit large number of women, particularly at Assistant sub-

inspector (ASI) and Sub-inspector (SI) level.

NPC: Sixth Report

This report focused on the Police leadership, organization structure for large cities and separation of

investigation and law & order wings.

• Police leadership (IPS officers) have to earn respect of its own men and citizens, by observing

high standards for the conduct and performance.

24 Third degree methods is a term to describe use of torture and physical abuse for obtaining confessions.


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• Equality of benefits and career prospects of IPS officers with those of the Indian

Administrative Service (IAS).

• Restructuring of police force in major cities by creating Police Commissionerate as such urban

areas need more effective policing.

• Creation of separate Investigation and Law & order wing upto the level of Police Station.

NPC: Seventh Report

Seventh report focused on operational aspects of policing i.e. area/population coverage of police

stations, posting of senior officers at the Police Station level for stations handling large number of

cases, traffic regulation, creation of unified traffic authority in every district, performance appraisal

systems etc. The number of officers at middle level i.e. ASI, SI and Inspector should be increased.

The Unified Traffic Authority under the chairmanship of City Police Chief and comprising of officers

from engineering wing and other government department. This authority should have sufficient

administrative and financial powers to handle and solve traffic problems in a scientific manner.

The report also made special recommendations for policing in North-eastern states of India.

NPC: Eighth Report

This report suggested replacement of Police Act 1861 by a modern Police Act to improve the system

of superintendence and control over the police. The Model Police act also proposes a citizen centric

human rights based approach for police operations.

Report advised collective sensitization of the Police to the issue of accountability towards citizens. It

suggested continuous performance evaluation and monitoring of the police by State Security

Commission.

Recommendations of Ribeiro Committee:

Ribeiro Committee submitted two reports during 1998-99. The salient points of the two reports are:

• To set-up State Security Commission as recommended by second NPC report. Committee

suggested to rename these as ‘Police Performance and Accountability Commission’.

• To establish ‘Police Complaints Authority’ in each district to deal with complaints against

police.

• To establish ‘Police Establishment Boards’ to deal with transfers and posting of police

personnel eliminating any interference of political executive or other agencies.

• Selection of Director General of Police (DGP) by a committee comprising of Member UPSC,

Union Home Secretary, State’s Chief Secretary, Director Intelligence Bureau and incumbent


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DGP. It was further suggested that DGP should have fixed tenure of 3 years and removed only

on recommendation of Police and Accountability Commission for his specified reasons to be

recorded in writing.

• Recommendation on separation of Investigation and Law & Order wing may be implemented

urgently. Suitable scientific training to officers of investigation wing to improve quality.

• NPC’s recommendations on improved recruitment, training and working conditions for

constabulary should be implemented. The minimum qualification for constable may be

upgraded to Higher Secondary school degree. Recruitment in each state should be done by an

independent Police Recruitment Board.

• Reorganization of police hierarchy with more officers in middle level as recommended by

NPC should be carried out.

• Quality of training should be improved and more extensive trainings should be organized.

• Replace Police Act 1861 with more modern Police Act.

Padmanabhaiah Committee Report:

• Replace existing Police Act 1861 with new law.

• Reforms in recruitment to reduce the ratio of constables to officers to 1:4 (it was then 1:7).

• Recruitment of constable should be undertaken for candidates in young age below nineteen

years with Matriculation as qualification. Selected candidate should be put through two years

rigorous training with suitable benchmark to become successful to join the police force.

• Sub-inspectors should be selected from candidates below twenty one years of age and Senior

Secondary as qualification criteria. Selected candidates to be put through three years rigorous

training with suitable passing criteria to become eligible to join the police force. 50 % of

vacancies should be kept reserved for promoted category, to provide for avenues for

promotions to constables.

• All existing constables should be suitably retrained and need to pass the training with suitable

benchmark. Those who fail to qualify the training should be made to compulsorily retired.

• To set up state level Police Establishment Board to oversee transfer of officers at higher levels.

• To establish crime prevention cells in each district made up of officers specialization in crime

prevention work.

• Separation of Investigation and Law & Order functions in police force.

• Revision the Evidence Act, to make confessions in front of senior officers admissible in court.


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• Modernization with provision of investigation kits in every police station and creation of a

forensic lab in every sub-division25.

• Law commission to review the cognizable and Non-cognizable offence for their relevancy in

present times. Also to review the powers of the police to investigate.

• Higher resources (funds) to be provided to Police by the Central and State governments to

improve the infrastructure of police. Compliance to improving recruitment, training and

development of human resource plan for police force by state government should be condition

precedent for releasing central government funds to state.

• Constable should be identified as skilled worker and provided with at least one day off every

week. Effective steps to be taken for enabling availing of earned leave. Holiday homes should

be built for use by police personnel.

• To embrace community policing to improve communication with citizens.

Supreme Court decision: Seven directives for Police Reforms

Supreme Court in Prakash Singh case in its landmark judgement on police reforms stated that ‘given

the gravity of the problem’ and the ‘total uncertainty as to when police reforms would be introduced’;

it felt compelled to issue ‘appropriate directions for immediate compliance’. In short the seven

directives are:

1. Constitute a State Security Commission (SSC) to:

i. Ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure

on the police.

ii. Lay down broad policy guideline and

iii. Evaluate the performance of the state police

2. Ensure that the DGP is appointed through merit based transparent process and for a minimum

tenure of two years.

3. Ensure that other police officers on operational duties (including Superintendents of Police

in-charge of a district and Station House Officers in-charge of a police station) are also

provided a minimum tenure of two years.

4. Separate the investigation and law & order functions of the police.

5. Set up a Police Establishment Board (PEB) to decide transfers, postings, promotions and other

service related matters of police officers of and below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of

25 A sub-division is term used for sub-district in India. As per 2011 census data India has 5564 sub-districts.

http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/Admin_Units/Admin_links/subdistrict_nomeclature.html


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Police and make recommendations on postings and transfers above the rank of Deputy

Superintendent of Police.

6. Set up a Police Complaints Authority (PCA) at state level to inquire into public complaints

against police officers of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in cases of

serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt, or rape in police custody and at

district levels to inquire into public complaints against the police personnel below the rank of

Deputy Superintendent of Police in cases of serious misconduct.

7. Set up a National Security Commission (NSC) at the union level to prepare a panel for

selection and placement of Chiefs of the Central Police Organizations (CPO) with a minimum

tenure of two years.

Status of implementation of Supreme Court Directives:

Current status report of various directives is being monitored by Supreme Court appointed

committee26. However the implementation even after eight years is far from satisfactory. Seventeen

states have passed new Police Acts to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court. Other eleven

states and all Union territories have issued executive orders for compliance. However, a deeper

analysis reflects superficial implementation. As per report by Human Rights Initiative, on first

directive to establish State Security Commission (SSC), only one state (Kerala) has implemented the

Supreme Court direction in letter and spirit. Two states i.e. J & K and Odisha have not established

SSC. Though, twenty five other States and all the Union Territories, have established SSC, the

commission in these states/ UT’s does not have correct composition of members i.e. composition is

highly tilted towards state government officials and/ or it has only advisory role towards state

government (Human Rights Initiative, 2014). The detailed status report Human Rights Initiative, 2014

for status as in February 2014 on other directives is also reflects dismal state.

Recommendations

From the analysis in this paper one can infer that Police reforms in India is one area, where there has

been no dearth of application of mind by subject matter experts to find solutions for improving the

performance. However, on the implementation front, the story is just the opposite. There has been

very low or ineffective progress, even on Supreme Court directions, which makes police reforms or

lack of their implementation, a peculiar issue. However, there has to be a way forward. It is proposed

to classify the policy solutions in various categories to achieve better results. The classification can

be made on the basis of whether the initiative requires legislative action or not, another criteria can

26 In May 2008, Supreme Court appointed a monitoring committee to examine the affidavits filed by various state

governments, taking into account reported difficulties under the chairmanship of K.T. Thomas (former SC Judge).

http://humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/india/initiatives/chri_press_release_on_prakash_singh_16july08.pdf


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be funds requirement and a third criteria can be dependence on strength of police force. Easy to

implement initiatives shall be those which ease pressure on human resource, do not require much

additional funds and can be implemented internally within the organization.

In this light, following policy recommendations are presented with broad classification of Human

Resource Initiatives, Institutional Initiatives and Legislative & Policy Initiatives:

Human Resource Initiatives:

1. Provide effective re-training: This is one reform which neither needs legislative action, nor

require huge funds. The success of any organization depends on morale and efficiency of its

work-force. National Police Academy should be asked to prepare short training modules on

varied topics such as Effective public handling, Modern policing respecting human rights of

citizens, procedural nuances of daily police work, standard reporting formats etc. Similarly

training modules may be prepared on specific class of field work or on provision of specific

sector laws. A course can be designed on social sector laws i.e. Anti-Dowry law, Prevention

of female feticide and provisions in CRPC on domestic violence etc. At present police

establishments in all district have training infrastructure available. In addition, with the

availability of internet connectivity27, distant teaching by expert trainers from State Police

Academies can conduct training. Training results are expected to show note-worthy

improvements when more than 75 % staff in respective police stations will get trained

(Banerjee A. et al, 2012, p. 29).

2. Improve working conditions: The constables work for long duty hours without getting weekly

and yearly leaves. Manpower working in such in-human conditions are least likely to have

due regards to human-rights. Therefore, strict guidelines are required to be implemented on

observing the weekly off and rotational duty rosters. It is important to involve middle

management (i.e. ASI, SI and Inspectors) in this initiative. Weekly off and availing of annual

leave should be implemented for all level of police personnel, including middle management.

3. Fixing of tenure: Supreme Court in its directive two, three and five has suggested to fix the

tenure of officers. It has advised to set-up Police Establishment Boards to monitor police

performance and decide on the matters related to transfer, promotion and other service related

matter. In November 2013, in another civil writ petition28 filed by T.S. R. Subramaniyan

(former Union Cabinet Secretary) and other, Supreme Court has issued directions

(Venkatesan, 2013) to establish ‘Civil Services Boards’ to manage transfer, posting,

27 Most of the police stations have internet connectivity to report and submit passport related police verifications

through online portal. Remaining police stations are also being provided with connectivity as part of nation-wide

Police Network. 28 Civil Writ petition no. 82 (SC) 2011 and 234 (SC) 2011.


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promotions and enquiries for civil servants. The judgement also advised Union and state

governments to ensure minimum tenure of service on various posts. Thus, fixed tenure for

whole government machinery has now been directed by Supreme Court. It is now expected,

that fixed tenure for police personnel will also be implemented.

4. Promotions: Irregular and delayed promotions is cause of unrest amongst police personnel (p

13). There are established rules and procedures for dealing with promotion cases. Delay in

promotions is only because of administrative slackness. Therefore regular monitoring of

timely processing by respective establishment departments by senior officers may be made

part of half yearly/ yearly appraisal. The basic fact regarding promotions is that there are post,

there are eligible officers and there are codified rules for promoting personnel. Effective

monitoring and implementation can help remove this big cause of alienation being caused

upon workforce at lower and middle management level.

Institutional Initiatives:

i. Adaption of ICT and e-Governance: Police in India continues to operate with age old methods

of manual entries and record books. Much of the physical repeat work can be reduced by

adapting institutional e-governance initiatives. Central government has planned Crime and

Criminal Tracking Network & Systems29 (CCTNS) to provide a nation-wide network. Police

establishment in each state is required to start local initiatives for leveraging other benefits by

increased adaption of e-governance in various processes. As most of existing work-force in

police may not be capable of working on computers, police organization in various states

should create focus groups for technology adaption and assimilation and providing basic

computer usage training.

ii. Improved oversight and deployment of decoy complainants: Senior officers should create

institutional mechanism for improved oversight on field level functions. Deployment of decoy

complainants can successfully improve police behavior with citizens (Banerjee A. et al, 2012,

p. 31). Therefore structural monitoring mechanism using third party resources can help

improve public handling and in-turn public image.

iii. Outsourcing non-core functions: There are many functions in day to day police duties which

can easily be outsourced to private personnel. Instead of more recruitments, it is expedient to

review each and every process and classify non-core function which do not require legal

authority. Some of such functions are distribution of summons, protection duties, assisting

local municipal bodies, mail distribution, guarding and escort duties, training, conducting

29 CCTNS is nationwide police network to connect more than 14000 police stations and other higher offices of police

force enabling online recording of crime details and seeking support for tracking suspects.

http://ncrb.gov.in/AboutCCTNS.htm accessed on November 26, 2014.


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driving test, internal administration of jails, manning 100 call center etc. (Umranikar, 2009,

p. 347). Outsourcing improves cost efficiency and also performance as such functions can be

delegated to organization which have core expertise in such activities. Globally outsourcing

has been used by businesses to improve efficiencies. Police force should also conduct detailed

studies and use outsourcing for non-core functions.

Legislative and Policy initiatives:

There is a long list of legislative and policy initiatives as per various committee reports. Seven

directives of Supreme Court decision and most pressing initiative to achieve tangible results. No

reforms can be achieved without strong political will. It is imperative that Government of the day

takes effective remedial measures to implement Supreme Court directives in letter and spirit.

Concerns, if any, from any state governments should be addressed. Union government can include

Police reforms as key agenda item in National Development Council meeting to initiate effective

discussion and achieve consensus. As suggested by Padmanabhaiah committee Union government

can link release of large allocations for police modernization with confirmation of implementation of

police reform in letter and spirit. In addition to seven legislative and policy based directives included

in the Supreme Court judgement following policy initiatives are also recommended:

i. Community Policing: This is by-far most import aspect of modern day police. Community

support helps police with important information. Community participation results in pro-

active prevention of crime. The improved coordination and communication between police

and public also improves image of police force.

ii. Other functional divisions for specialized police wings for dealing with modern crimes like

cyber security etc.

iii. Shedding oversight of social laws wherever considered expedient e.g. decriminalization of

social behavior like begging in public place etc.

Learnings from UK and Indonesian Police and other global best practices:

i. Active engagement with community: Operation manual should be prepared on effective

engagement of police with local community at Police station/ police post level in both Urban

and Rural areas.

ii. Engagement of volunteers from amongst local community: Police Station head should be

enabled with sufficient powers and funds to engage volunteers from local community to

provide intelligence inputs and also to support police in maintaining law and order.

iii. ‘Local Boys for Local Police’: In Indonesia, recruitment of local boy has helped police in

achieving widespread support and acceptability. Similar approach can be very helpful for

Police force in North-eastern region, Tribal areas like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhan etc.

iv. Training and continuous up-gradation: Indonesian Police has instituted a well-structured in-

service training program, which reaches out to large number of personnel. Importance of


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training the manpower, with suitable capsule courses (2 to 4 weeks) has already been

suggested in para 1 of suggestions under human resource initiatives.

Conclusion

Police reforms has been a delusive task so-much-so that even after eight years of Supreme Court

directions, the compliance has been far from satisfactory. Strong political will and oversight by civil

society is necessary ingredient for improvement. Institution are very difficult to reform (Acemoglu,

2012, p. 436) and can reform themselves only by institutional drift. As can be seen by reforms in INP,

institutional change is a long drawn process. Any institutional change in such large public facing

institution is likely to result in instability for some time before settling down. India missed the

opportunity to convert its institutions at the time of independence, into democratic institutions and

continued with the structure formed during colonial era. At that time nation missed the opportunity

to create institutions with democratic ethos of welfare state on the altar of expediency. Direct

monitoring by Supreme Court on police reforms as well as for other civil servants (Civil petition 82

SC: 2011) has created a very good opportunity for achieving institutional change. India is at cusp of

next big growth (PWC, 2014), and can-not afford to continue with institutions which do not align

themselves with principles of public interest and fulfillment of public expectations.


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Annexures

Annexure I

Basic Police Data for the Country

• Area (Sq. Kms.) 31,66,414

• Population (Ist October - 2012) in thousands 12,17,327

• Sanctioned Civil Police Force 17,65,404

• Sanctioned strength of State Armed Police Force 4,43,623

• Total State Police Force 22,09,027

• Population per Policemen 551

• Police Ratio per lakh (one hundred thousand) of population 181.5

• Police Ratio per hundred square kms. area 69.8

• Number of Police Stations 14,360

• Number of Police -Posts 8,583

• State Armed Police Battalions 430+4 Coys

2002 2012 % Increase

Total Population

(Million)

1055.5 1217.32 15.38 %

Total Police Strength

(Million)

1.47 2.21 50.4 %


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Annexure II: Various entry levels and functional streams in Indian Police Force:

There are four entry levels in police force as detailed below:

1. Constable- The beat personnel making up the ranks of the police force. Their career

progression is extremely poor and most of the constables can get only two promotions in entire

carrier i.e. Head-Constable and Assistant Sub Inspector. Few get to become Sub Inspectors

and some exceptions reach the level of Inspector

2. Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) – Team leader of ten to fifteen constables (and sometimes one

or two Head Constables). He acts as the inquiry officer for a case. An ASI gets two to three

promotions in a career span of 30 years i.e. Sub Inspector, Inspector and Assistant

Superintendent of Police.

3. Inspector – An officer at lower management level heading a Thana (or area in a block). As a

station head is responsible for area under jurisdiction of his Thana. They get three to four

promotions in their career i.e. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent of

Police, Superintendent of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police.

4. Indian Police Services (IPS) Officer, join as Assistant Superintendent of Police, for first year

of service after probationary training. IPS officers get six to seven promotions i.e.

Superintendent of Police, Joint Commissioner, Commissioner, Deputy Inspector General,

Inspector General, Additional Director General of Police and Director General of Police.


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Annexure III: Indian Police Hierarchy


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Annexure IV: Duties and functions of Police (Source- Bombay Police Manual):

o Execution of orders and processes

o Prevention and investigation of Crimes

o Prevention of public nuisances

o Arrest

o Assistance to another police personal/ officer

o Co-operation between:

� Police of adjacent territories in matter of pursuing cases of abducted persons.

� Neighboring police stations and Districts for prevention and detection of

crime

� Local police and criminal investigation department officers

o Co-operation between the Railway and District police in the investigation of the

crime

o Conferences of police officers

o Assistance to disabled persons

o Health and comfort of persons in custody

o Damage control by fire, animals etc.

o Traffic control and traffic administration

o Barriers on streets for checking vehicles and drivers

o Maintenance of order in streets and public places

o Duties of police in the matter of enforcing regulations in connection with epidemic

diseases

o Enforcement of police regulations for preventing breach of the peace

o Stray cattle and unclaimed property

o Hydrophobia and stray dogs

o Duties under special and local laws


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Annexure V : British Police Hierarchy

Documents

Economic Growth through Inclusive Institutions- A Study of Indian Police Force