The New Nation - Internet Edition

Razzak Raza

Zorina Bewa is an octogenarian woman who lost her husband some 20 years ago. She has two sons and four daughters and a dozen of grand children. She possesses 50 decimals of land which became the bone of contention among her children and grand children. Upon a promise of providing with two meals in a day, Zorina donated her land to one of her grand children, Jamal. Shrewd Jamal wrongly thought that the old lady would find her way to the graveyard in few years, if not few months, and thus, he would gain the land easily by not feeding his grand mother for years. He fed his grand mother for few months. But he is not a well-to-do man. He refused to feed the helpless old grand mother. Zorina went to the local headmen. But nobody could break in recusant Jamal. He would neither provide the old woman with food nor would he give back the donated land to her.

Finding no other ways, the old lady went to the police station and describes her woes to the Officer-in-Charge. The Officer in Charge was a law abiding police officer. He found no sections in his law books to prosecute Zorina's grand child, Jamal. He told the lady that it was not a problem with the police to solve. The police enforce criminal laws of cognizable nature. Her problem was of civil nature and she could go to the civil court for redress. The old lady went back home blaming the Creator for granting her a long life.

In the meantime, the Officer-in-Charge got transferred. A new Officer-in-Charge joined the police station. With a hope to get redress of the injustice from her grand child, Jamal, the old lady re-visited the police station and saw the new OC. The new OC gave a patient hearing to the old women. But the new OC also found the problem of the old woman undefined in his charter of duties. He perused the Criminal laws anew. But no procedure was suggested in the Criminal Procedure Code to address this problem. The Police Regulations, Bengal, too, incorporated no rules to solve these sorts of problems. The framers of Indian Penal Code, failed to visualise that old woman like Zorina Bewa would approach to the police stations to get rid of such social problems. The Children Act-1974 protects the young generations from probable offences and negligence, but the Officer-in-Charge discovered no legal guarantee for the old human being from social injustice.

But police discretion begins where the law ends. The OC decided to help the old woman by applying his discretion. He sent an officer to nab the grand child. The Section 54 of the Cr.PC gave a legal footing to him to help the destitute lady. The power of arrest is a powerful weapon to the police. Everybody is afraid of being arrested. And it is also widely believed that the police can do any thing and many things with the weapon of section 54. Jamal gave in to the OC. He was forced to give back the land to the old lady. The lady redistributed the land to her two sons. They took the responsibility to feed the old woman. This non-police problem was solved by the police in front of the local elites and headmen. The local people promised to work as watch dogs to ensure that the old lady was given with food and lodging properly by her sons.

There are numerous non-police problems like one that of old Zorina which a police officer needs to solve. These problems have hardly any link with the regular police responsibilities. These are purely social problems which arise when traditional and established social norms are broken and social values are overlooked. The leaders of the society, social workers, and the social welfare departments of the government should solve these problems. Civil matters are directly tried by the civil courts. Police are not allowed to interfere with the civil cases. But, police, though primarily a crime-fighting organisation have to solve all these social problems, because no other means has been found to solve them. They are the residual problems of society. The public want a general-purpose emergency government service, available to handle problems that arise. This job falls to the police. Policing involves society's dirty work: the tasks that no one else wants to do. People call the police when everything else has failed.

Why people call the police? Are they endangered by violent crime or their security is at stake? People call the police to solve their domestic problems, to get back lent money from their acquainted persons or their business partners. Petty civil maters are brought to the police to get rapid remedy. In a study in the USA police departments it was found that out of hundred calls only 19 percent of calls involves crime and only 2 percent of the total calls involve violent crime. Excluding two percent of internal operation calls the rest 79 percent calls are of non criminal nature. But police had to attend all those calls. These are the social service the police have to render for the society.

The crime fighting image of Bangladesh police, though still prevalent, has decreased enormously. The lion share of a police officer's time, especially of an officer working in a police station, is spent to render social services. It is true that the number of cognizable cases has increased over the years. But at the same time the non-crime duties increased manifold. The verification of antecedences of the Government servants, the pass-port verifications, issuing police clearance, attending traffic accident and enquiring public petitions, arbitrating land disputes, patching up broken relations between husband and wife and thousands of other non-criminal works keep the police ever busy all the year round.

Paradoxically, the social service role of the police work is not evaluated in the official statistics. Only the cognizable cases and execution of warrants are shown in the monthly and annual conference. Statistics available at Police Head Quarters shows the number of recorded crimes in sixteen heads. But how many VR or PVR were enquired were not included in the statistics. How many old people like Zorina Bewa were attended by the officers is completely missing from the performance list. Official Web Site of Bangladesh police, www.police.gov.bd, shows that the police officers were busy with 1, 30,578 cognizable cases in 2006. But the thousands of other performances that consume the lion share of their time have blatantly been overlooked.

The framers of the existing Police Act (Act 5 of 1861) never thought of Zorina Bewa. They wanted to raise a police force only to fight against crime. No commitment towards the community was depicted in the police Act. In 1861, police officers never encountered such kind of social problems as one the old lady in question brought to. By the passes of time our flags changed twice, our society developed, population grew manifold and modernity broke the old aged homogeneous social fabrics. But our police are put to the same statutory cache.

If the Officer-in-Charge who tried to give old Zorina Bewa a redress, paid a deaf heed to her, no legal proceeding could be drawn against him. On the contrary, he could be prosecuted for illegal arrest of the old lady's grandson. This is the law by which our police are expected to solve social problems.

The world of policing has changed its direction from merely fighting against crime to rendering social service. The era of community policing began in the western world in the early seventies of the last century, and in Bangladesh, it is knocking at the door. Police are not merely a crime fighting force in modern days. It is a service providing uniformed government agency. In lieu of arrest of criminals, police are expected to stop the process of criminality.

Not every problem arising in the society could be and should be enlisted and defined in the statutes. Like the police of developed countries, Bangladesh Police, now, need to develop a mechanism to address social problems with the close coordination with the members of the society.

It is hopeful that Bangladesh Police have changed their attitudes in recent years. The increasing number of people of all strata visiting the police-units everyday can feel the positive change in police attitudes. The post of a service delivery officer has been created in the police stations for attending and counseling the visitors to initiate the legal process. Recent news-paper-reports on police performance speak volumes of the change in the police approach to help the destitute like Zorina Bewa.

But the individual approach or the initiatives without legal obligation cannot institutionalize the change. We need a change in the police act and regulations. So, the old aged police act must be re-written. Police must be declared as a government agency for rendering social services. The crime fighting role of the police must be overrun by the social service liabilities.

The draft police ordinance 2007 circulated by the Police Reform Programme has addressed this issue. It declares and addresses social problems of the democratic society in its preamble. It has bound the police officers to the public with reciprocal obligations-

It shall obligatory for every police officer to-

a) behave with respect and courtesy towards the public;

b) render requisite assistance to the victim of crime, exploitation, accident, natural calamities and disaster;

c) promote sense of security amongst the public with special emphasis to the poor, disabled or physically weak and elderly persons;

d) guarantee the fundamental right and freedom as enshrined in the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh;

e) prevent all forms of harassment against women & children; and

f) Foster community partnership in policing.

Police Officer shall make every effort to-

a) afford relief to people in distress situation,

b) provide support to victims of crime and accident'

c) assist accident and crime victims or their heirs or their dependants, where applicable, with such information and documents as would facilitate their compensation claims; and

d) Cause awareness among the victims of crime and accidents of their rights and privileges.

I think these are the voices of the common people of the country who have been dreaming of a democratic and exploitation free even society since the independence. We want to change our police. The police of the colonial era cannot serve a free nation. So, let us have a police force that will shake off their colonial attitudes. And for its prerequisite, we must introduce a new police act and send the existing one to the museum.