Just arming the cops will not do

The 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai have led to a paradigm shift in public perception in terms of the steps needed to address the menace of terrorism.

The speed at which money has been sanctioned by the state government for the modernisation of the police force is one example; another is the alacrity with which two bills — one pertaining to setting up a National Investigation Agency and the other to make amendments to the UAPA — have been passed in the Lok Sabha. Both are indicative of the fact that the political class is aware of the public sentiment on the issue.

While steps such as setting up a State Security Guards force along the lines of the NSG, arming the police with modern weapons, increasing the number of police stations and the police-population ratio, may be in order, these things alone may not be enough.

Similarly, passing a bill to set up a National Investigation Agency may reflect the mood of the times, but one could also argue that instead of bringing a new law into force, suitable amendments could have been introduced in the Delhi Police Act, under which the CBI has been set up and functions.

As far as introducing more stringent provisions in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is concerned, what is really required is to bring in a qualitative shift in policing and investigation methods in the country.

The National Police Commission’s report made many recommendations to improve policing and crime investigation, which, unfortunately, continue to gather dust. One was to separate policing’s law-and-order function from its crime investigation role, to bring in greater professionalism and specialisation.

Setting up a State Security Commission and fixing the tenures of police chiefs at police station, district and state levels was also recommended, but the political class refuses to acknowledge these as the need of the hour.

Various models of community policing to reach out to the citizenry and improve police-public interface exist both in India and abroad, and need to be replicated on a large scale. This would not only help citizens access the system better, it would also help the police get a more grounded picture.

The collection of “good” intelligence is directly proportional to the level of trust and empathy that the citizenry has in the police. The usefulness of these strategies has been amply demonstrated in the case of prevention of communal riots in Bhiwandi after Suresh Khopade, the then DCP of the area, implemented the mohalla committee model. 

Yet another idea that needs to be seriously looked at is the appointment of social workers in police stations, courts and prisons, to provide information, guidance, counselling and psycho-social support to vulnerable sections and the general public who reach the system, either as victims or as offenders.

A report of the Police-TISS Committee to examine the Need for Trained Social Workers in the Criminal Justice System was submitted to the home department in 1993, and since then, is “lost” in the corridors of Mantralaya.

Apart from police reforms, one also needs to look at judicial and prison reforms to adopt a more holistic approach. Both these wings of criminal justice are suffering from overload. Our prisons are overcrowded by nearly 40%, mostly with undertrials.

The fate of accused persons and litigants in our courts is similar. The Law Commission, in its 120th report, recommended that the strength of judges per million population be increased from 10.5 to 50. The present judge-strength in India is 14 per million population — one of the poorest judge-population ratios when compared to Australia (47 per million), UK (50 per million), Canada (75 per million) and USA (107 per million).

This, despite the fact that we have about 2 crore cases pending in subordinate courts, 35 lakh in high courts and about 26,000 cases in the Supreme Court.

We need criminal justice reforms; we need to increase staffing in all wings of the criminal justice system, and to decriminalise a number of laws (like the anti-beggary laws) which only burden the police and the judiciary. We need to improve our legal aid system so that the poor and marginalised have access to justice.

We need to appoint social workers who can act as an interface with the public and support the rehabilitation of vulnerable groups. We also need community-based models of treating offenders, such as probation and community service for less serious crimes, so that the police can concentrate on more serious ones.

The time has come to seize this opportunity that has been presented before us, albeit cruelly, to take a series of measures that address the problem at its roots. Let us not be satisfied with a piecemeal approach any more. Instead, let us be serious about removing the infection, rather than simply dressing the wounds.
The writer is an assistant professor at the Centre for Criminology and Justice, Tata Institute of Social
Sciences (TISS)