IGP asks RPOs to apprise MPAs of new police law

PESHAWAR: Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani has directed the Regional Police Officers (RPOs) in the province to apprise the members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly about the salient features of the proposed police law.

As per the official communiqué, the directives were given to the RPOs in a circular issued from the Central Police Office, Peshawar. The circular stated that previously the police was used as coercive arm of the government to browbeat opponents and gain political mileage.

Consequently, it said, the law and order situation deteriorated and the criminals made life miserable for the common citizens. “In this backdrop the police lost credibility as it was marred by widespread allegations of corruption and torture. The people started considering it as an armed group of the sitting government,” stated the circular.

The circular said in this perspective, the KP government after long deliberations proposed a new police law to ensure the operational independence of police in tandem with accountability. “A new Police Ordinance encompassing these basic features was promulgated by the government in August, 2016 to ensure that police become operationally independent, politically neutral and accountable to the public,” it said, adding through this law the District Police Officers of all districts in the province were bound to give presentation to the District Councils on law and order and get input from the elected members for improvement in overall traffic management in the districts.

The circular said majority of the District Councils not only approved this new initiative but also demanded the provincial government to convert this ordinance into an act of assembly due to its functional utility for the general public.

Nasir Khan Durrani, it said, directed the RPOs of all the regions to brief the elected members of the provincial assembly of their region about the new accountability mechanism provided therein and educate them.

“For the first time in the history of the province the district police have been made answerable to a three tiers system of accountability in the form of District Council, Regional Complaint Authority and Provincial Public Safety Commission,” it said.

The circular added that this new law was based on the best international practices, which will ensure professional development and operational autonomy of police, enabling it to counter the ever-growing threat of militancy and violent crimes.

This new law, it said, has also been hailed by different international agencies like United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and they congratulated the government for translating its election promise of a politically neutral and professionally autonomous police into a reality.