Police propose external accountability through LGs

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has reportedly submitted a proposal to the provincial government for enhanced external accountability mechanism through the democratic institutions, a source told The News.
The proposal was reportedly presented by the Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani before a committee headed by the chief secretary and members of the provincial cabinet the other day.
The source said that civilian bureaucracy was making efforts to get the powers of accountability and control of the police as was the case in the past. However, the IGP and his colleagues have proposed that the job should be done by the elected governments instead of individuals.
The police bosses, the source added, have suggested replacing the archaic bureaucratic oversight with the public oversight through the District Councils, District Public Safety Commissions, Criminal Justice Coordination Committees, Regional Police Complaint Authorities and Provincial Public Safety Commissions.
Under the proposal, the first check on the police will be of the District Councils that will hold special sessions to discuss the law and order situation in the respective district twice a year. It will be mandatory for the District Police Officers (DPOs) to appear before the District Council and be answerable for the performance of his force.
If the District Councils are not satisfied with the performance of a District Police Officer, they may seek his pre-mature transfer by passing a resolution to the effect with two-thirds majority upon which the IGP will be bound to take action within 15 days.
“In case of a disagreement between the District Council and the IGP, the issue will be forwarded to the Provincial Public Safety Commission for adjudication and its findings will be binding on the IGP,” the source added.
The district police will also be accountable to the District Public Safety Commissions that will have the mandate to look into the police complaints and monitor the performance of the district police.
Besides, Criminal Justice Coordination Committee headed by the district and sessions judge and comprising of the judicial officers and other departments of the criminal justice system will also do the accountability of police.
The proposals also provided for the Regional Police Complaints Authorities at the regional level.According to the proposal, “At the provincial level, the police department will be answerable to the Provincial Public Safety Commission which shall have the same mandate and composition as the District Public Safety Commissions with the exception of the public representatives which in this case shall be taken from the provincial assembly.” The selection of the members of this commission will be carried out by the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court.
Under the proposed system, the heads of village councils, tehsil councils and district councils will have the authority to forward public complaints to the SHO, SDPO and DPO, respectively, and these officers will be bound to apprise the public representatives about the action taken on such complaints within 15 days.
Failure on the part of police officers to apprise the public representative about the outcome within 15 days will be deemed as misconduct liable for departmental proceedings.The proposals reportedly made by the IGP aimed at strengthening the role of the public representatives instead of the bureaucrats in keeping a check on the police force.