PTI yet to introduce promised shift system in police

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) governments at the centre and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have yet to introduce shift system in the police force that was promised by the leadership before the 2013 general election.

A number of PTI officials had claimed in the past that the shift system will be introduced in the police force once the party came into power so the policemen can also perform duty like other departments. The promise could not be honoured despite the fact that the party ruled the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for five years.

Now when the party is in power in the country and has formed the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the second time, the cops have reminded it of the promise that was made years back.

Most of the policemen perform duty round-the-clock, depending upon the directives of the station house officers and moharrirs of a police station. A source in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police said that the shift system was considered on a number of occasions but the idea had to be dropped for lack of resources, shortage of manpower and deployment of a large number of policemen with the VIPs.

The source said that an attempt was made by a former district police officer in Kohat in one police station but the idea did not work for long due to the shortage of manpower and resources.

Many police stations in the province have been declared as model police stations by merely setting up a few new desks and doing some renovation of the building. However, the environment in all these police stations is still the same.

The cops right from the station house officers to constables perform duty round-the-clock. Even the station house officers and other seniors in the police stations cannot go home to meet their family for many days.

A source said that many officers prefer clerical assignments at offices or find a place in the investigation wing so that they can go home in the evening. Only those prefer to be posted as SHOs who either want to complete their mandatory period for promotion to the next rank or earn more money through unfair means.

In some districts, the barracks have been improved and solar system installed at the police stations and police posts for continuous power supply after the local officers took the initiative.

The rest of the environment in these police stations is the same.