The author seems to suggest that reforms within the police force could infuse professionalism into it (“Keeping the streets safe”, Jan.6). The basic flaw in law enforcement is that the police are under the control of the ruling party. It is futile to expect the lower echelons of the police to act impartially when some senior officers are not immune to political interference. Moreover, the politicisation of crime and criminalisation of politics are a toxic mixture that has weakened the independent functioning of the police. The only way to make the police accountable to the public and to insulate personnel from political interference is to implement the police reforms initiated by the Supreme Court in 2006.
We must also ask ourselves whether neighbourhood communities and society at large have no role in protecting women from harassment. The police cannot be present in every nook and corner of every city although patrolling can be intensified in the night. Civic responsibility to deter crime and report its occurrence is something we seldom talk about. Community policing — a partnership between local communities and the police — can also be tried as a strategy to prevent crime.
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvanathapuram
