Urban challenges

Radhika Tanwar, who was shot dead near her college in New Delhi on March 8. - SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Despite the recent attempts of the police force to build bridges with people, policing in cities does not measure up to popular expectations.

KUDOS to the Delhi Police for swiftly solving the Radhika Tanwar murder case that had shocked the whole city. Radhika, a girl of 20, was shot dead in broad daylight outside her college. It is sad that very few onlookers went to her assistance. It is just possible that she could have been saved if she had been rushed to the nearest hospital for prompt medical attention.

Worse was to follow. The crime must certainly have been witnessed by a large number of people. None, however, came forward to help the police with any information. It is a matter of gratification that the Delhi Police could still make headway and identify the assailant, a young deranged person who had stalked Radhika for years. This is the crux of the problem. The police are expected to contain crime and also solve it with no support from the community.

A few months ago, the Delhi Police similarly cracked a case of gang rape in which a woman was attacked by a pack of goons in a moving car. This was a blind case, and the police were berated for not solving it. That the police managed to locate the aggressors within weeks was a tribute to their perseverance.

There are several other such successes of which the Delhi Police can rightly be proud of, but these are unknown to the public. Undeniably, however, the police in the capital have a press that constantly looks for their failures rather than achievements. This is probably true of the police the world over. But it is very much so in our country, with so many newspapers and television channels competing fiercely with one another in a rat race for survival and looking all the time for the negative and the sensational news.

What do the several instances of the Delhi Police's success (including in the case of Radhika Tanwar) mean to society at large? The obvious fact is that a police force in any Indian city can still give a good account of itself in spite of the heavy odds stacked against it in the form of burgeoning residential settlements, an enormous floating population, lack of manpower, an uncooperative public, and corruption within its ranks. What the police need are enormous motivation and generous public and political support.

Talent within police forces is abundant, providing the building block for enhancing police effectiveness. More and more young men and women, many with college degrees, are willing to join the police. They are good clay to be moulded by their supervisors. The million-dollar question is whether such a resource is sensibly utilised and enthused by the leadership. The answer is both yes and no. There are a few young and imaginative Indian Police Service officers, some with a Management degree, who understand the value of morale in a work group that is overburdened and stressed all the time and needs a dynamic leadership if it has to remain on course.

They are also trying many innovations particularly in the area of better relations with the public so as to enhance the latter's stakes in efficient policing. In spite of this commendable endeavour, policing in cities does not measure up to popular expectations. There is often criticism that the police are corrupt and inefficient and that no sensible citizen will dare go to a police station for assistance.

There was the recent suicide of an Inspector of Police in Chennai who possibly could not cope with work pressure, especially in the form of investigation into a sensational and clueless murder, and put an end to himself. While it is prudent not to play up this sad occurrence and also unfair to indulge in generalisations, the suicide stands out as an example of what can happen to a police officer who is battling complicated crime and coping with a maddening workload. The need to institutionalise the practice of counselling for the members of an overstretched police force can hardly be overstated. The pressures on urban police are far higher than an essentially rural force, which has fewer cases to handle and more time to respond to a crime or a public order problem, usually away from media glare.

While training and incentives can play a major role in strengthening police professionalism, there is a lot that can be done by way of restructuring the police organisational structure. Little thought is devoted by senior leaders to this subject of providing a new format to police forces so that delivery of service is more acceptable to the common man. One striking feature of the Indian police force is that it is top heavy, with a ridiculous number of Directors General of Police and Additional Directors General of Police. This is widely commented upon by the junior ranks and the constabulary, which is at the bottom of the pyramid.

This has been brought about by the nearly time-bound promotions in the all India services, whereby non-performers and those with an unsavoury reputation also make the grade. What is more significant is that a majority of those at the top do not have enough work to keep themselves occupied. This leads to measurable frustration and consequent jockeying for the few important positions. It is necessary to explore whether such unutilised talent can be deployed to beef up urban policing, of course, without disrupting the command structure.

Nothing should be done to dilute the authority of the Commissioner of Police. It is possible to create special wings that will address major urban problems such as youth violence; trafficking in human beings, especially women and children; peddling drugs; and so on. This is a delicate exercise that will involve fusing of the line of control with operational freedom. This may seem a vague and impractical thought, but it is worth an experiment if the police need to leverage available talent.

The ills of a police station

The police station is the fundamental unit of policing in the country. It is, however, the weakest link in the chain and has brought in a lot of odium to the forces. It suffers from a variety of ills: modest manpower, a faultily constructed building with very limited space, lack of an area for rest and recreation for the men and women who work there, and abysmally poor facilities to receive visitors. These together build an atmosphere of gloom and depression. Should this be so in an era when workplaces are so employee-friendly and hygienic? A change will bring in rich dividends. You provide the ambience. Policemen will thereafter respond with glee and satisfaction.

Is it not possible to build about 100 police stations in each major city that will not be luxury offices but will certainly be clean and comfortable locations where policemen will give their best? A few years ago, private industry came out generously to build several new police stations in Bangalore as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). This should be emulated by most of the other cities in the country, whereby there is basic infrastructure for the police to provide uninterrupted service to the common man. This would definitely pave the way for better performance in an urban setting.

One chronic complaint against the urban police is that they are tardy in responding to emergency calls. One may recall that in the United States, a police chief's efficiency is judged almost solely on the time taken by his force in responding to urgent citizen calls for help. His contract will not be extended if his force fails this test.

There is no such public audit in India. I would strongly recommend that every city police force maintain a daily log of the response time and publicise it so that the public get to know how well its police are performing. This will have to be automated so that there is no fudging of the response time. This is the only way one can keep policemen on their toes and seek to raise levels of public satisfaction. This is how one can also enhance police accountability.

Traffic management in all major cities is fast breaking down. It is not merely the volume of traffic that is a major concern. It is equally the shrinking infrastructure available to the management and the growing indiscipline of road users, both those who drive and those who negotiate the thoroughfares on foot. There is a general feeling of helplessness that bodes disaster for the next few years, when traffic will come to a near grinding halt in the six metropolises (including Bangalore and Hyderabad) during peak hours.

This is not a mere police problem as the common man believes. The whole administration will have to rise as one and work in an integrated fashion. Now such coordination is evident only in a small measure. What is absent is the political will to clear pavements that are massively encroached on by hawkers, who have to grease the palms of enforcement personnel, both the city corporation and the police, on a regular basis.

An encroachment-free pavement and a free hand to the police to proceed against drivers of all classes of vehicles and impose a spot fine for violating basic traffic rules can improve the situation greatly. The way our polity is organised offers little hope that there will be professional and ruthless enforcement of the legal provisions available. Those who rule us do not understand the gravity of the present situation.

Unfortunately, such critical civic issues do not figure in election manifestos. As a result, urban policing will continue to be sloppy for many decades to come, much to the chagrin of the law-abiding citizen.