The Hindu : DGP calls for police independence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 16, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

DGP calls for police independence

By Our Staff Reporter

KANNUR, FEB. 15. The Director General of Police, P.K. Hormese Tharakan, has said that institutionalisation of the Government's measures to free the police force from political and other external pressures alone can deter any future threat to the independence of the police in carrying out its duties.

Talking to presspersons here today, Mr. Tharakan said the present initiative of the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, to make the police free from external interventions had to be institutionalised. "There is a danger of the freedom given to the police being taken back unless steps are taken for institutionalising the freedom,'' the DGP said adding that the ongoing experiments in the State police were being keenly watched elsewhere in the country.

As per the Police Act, the Government had superintendence over the police and often this provision was misused to make the police pliant, he said. The National Police Commission proposed a redefinition of this power of superintendence and constitution of a statutory State Security Commission in every State as a police watchdog with powers to appoint the DGP to monitor its accountability. The Performance and Accountability Committee constituted by the State Government was only a non-statutory body. The decision to institutionalise police independence should be taken by the political leadership, he said.

The DGP said that the freedom now being enjoyed by the police did not mean unbridled powers, but freedom to work impartially. Equally important was the accountability of the police. He also stressed the need for modernising the entire criminal justice system.

What happened at Killi was an aberration, he said adding that action would be taken against such aberrations.

As part of the community policing drives being launched in the State to enhance the police-public interaction and cooperation, each district police establishment had been asked to take initiatives to change the image of the police as a group that used force against the people to that of a force ready to help the public. The `Mytri-2004' exhibition being organised by the police here was part of the drive, he said.

The DGP said that a new syllabus for police training to enhance awareness on human rights, public interaction and social contact among the personnel was being prepared as part of modernising the force. Processes were also under way for conducting in-service training and range-wise awareness classes for police personnel. He also wanted aggressive actions to deal with the corrupt in the force.

Answering a question, Mr. Tharakan said the figures in the National Crime Record Bureau report indicating an increase in the crime rate in the State were not correct. The crime rate in the State was in fact coming down over the past many years.

The police had to remain vigilant against growing religious fundamentalism in the State, he said adding that the police would work to involve the youth in various people-friendly measures to encourage the spirit of tolerance among them. Steps were also under way to strengthen the joint police-excise drive for controlling narcotic cases.

The DGP also said that measures were under way to empower women's cells in each district to handle cases relating to women.

There was also a plan to set up helpline in district headquarters to receive complaints relating to domestic violence and attacks on women, he said.

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