The Hindu : New Delhi News : “Need to find ways to check corruption in police force”

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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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New Delhi

“Need to find ways to check corruption in police force”

The modus operandi adopted by three Delhi policemen arrested recently by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi Government to purportedly extort money from people has shown how unscrupulous men in khaki abuse their power.

In two of these cases, the policemen allegedly extorted money from the families of the accused to either help obtain bail or to favour the accused. The third arrest was that of a sub-inspector on probation posted with the Karawal Nagar police station. The allegation against him was that he demanded and received money from a complainant to issue an “untraced” report in a motorcycle theft case.

Conceding that such instances were an indication of deep-rooted corruption in the force, a senior police officer says: “The very fact that a probationer sub-inspector has been arrested on charges of corruption shows how ineffective police training modules are when it comes to shaping the attitude of recruits. All the sermons on ethics, law, human rights and care for the underprivileged and the wronged are conveniently forgotten soon after such police officers get a posting.”

Another police officer says that attitudes cannot be changed simply through training, it is all about upbringing. “They come from the same society,” he argues.

Corruption within the force has been a bane since ages. In fact, the Third National Police Commission Report states: “As a law enforcement agency, the police system even from ancient times has always carried with it the scope for mala fide exercise of powers and consequent corruption. The Police Commission of 1902-03 found strong evidence of widespread corruption in the police, particularly among Station House Officers throughout the country.”

The 1902-03 Report had observed: “The forms of this corruption are very numerous. It manifests itself in every stage of the work of the police station. The police officer may levy a fee or receive a present for every duty he performs…”

Sadly these observations seem to hold true even today. The so-called punitive actions have failed to deter dishonest policemen. “They have been rendered ineffective because of various reasons. Poor supervision, time-taking inquiries that on several occasions lead to corruption on the part of inquiry officers, and superficial actions are some of them,” says another senior police officer, adding that to evade detection unscrupulous policemen are now extorting money through touts.

Given that the traditional means of checking corruption in the force have not brought about the desired change, many police officers feel that it is high time new ways are adopted: “Technology should be used in a big way to unearth the nexus of corrupt cops. When preaching proves unproductive, try persuasion. If persuasion also fails to work, the situation calls for stringent action that may include arrest.”

Devesh K. Pandey

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