Civil Society has to take a stand for Police Reforms

“Policing in the region is largely unprofessional and unaccountable”, said Sanjay Patil, expert on Policing in South Asia of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) at the beginning of the two-day round table conference on ‘Police Reforms in South Asia: Role of Civil Society’ in New Delhi. The purpose of this roundtable organised by CHRI and supported by the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF) was to explore ways in which civil society organisations (CSOs) can have a positive impact on improved police functioning, and thereby not as usual an assessment of the problems, but moreover to show positive examples and asses their transferability to South Asian countries.
And the issue is more relevant than ever, as a recent report on Police Reforms by CHRI has shown. Some South Asian laws, for example the Indian Police Act from 1861, date back to colonial times in which the entire institutional structure aimed at subjecting its citizens and combating uprisings. This guarantees extensive powers to the police, which police forces across South Asia use against the citizens rather than for securing their freedom. Torture and other forms of ill-treatments are an integral part of police routine, shattering the relationship between the citizen and the police.

The relationship between CHRI and FNF dates back to 1997, since then both institutions have been working together on issues of civil rights and rule of law in South Asia. This long standing partnership also created room for a new format of an online phase preceding the roundtable. This made it possible to distribute materials online, to provide a forum for people to discuss their concerns and issues with policing in South Asia and to ensure that participants have an opportunity to get to know one another prior to meeting in New Delhi.

“The stalling of reforms has given a feeling to the people that the police would get reformed only with radical cataclysm,” said Director of CHRI Maja Daruwala. Katrin Bannach, FNF Programme Manager for India, supported this view and stressed the need for a strong civil society in this respect.

The organisers of the roundtable raised the question how CSOs can improve police professionalism to resolve sensitive situations without using force, establish relationships with people in the community, and be respectful of vulnerable communities such as women, children and minorities. Training would be part of the solution, but to Anneke Osse, Manager, Police and Human Rights Programme of Amnesty International, not a solution by itself as “there is a need to follow up, to have institutional checks and balances etc. Too often this is not done, cynically, because it might actually have an impact.”

Therefore there is a need for the creation of accountability, besides the training. Countries across the world have sought to augment internal accountability systems with external or civilian oversight mechanisms to complement existing mechanisms. In certain countries CSOs are involved in the oversight of the police and thereby assist in monitoring, overseeing and reviewing police misconduct. The UK Domestic Lay Visiting Model is one model that might be suitable for South Asian countries. It was implemented in 1985, allowing members of the public to visit police stations; in 2001 independent custody visiting was fully instituted. This practice ensures the protection of detainees and improves the community’s understanding of police procedures and thereby strengthens confidence in police practice and professionalism. Conversely, police services in the UK regularly apply the rules since members of CSOs may drop in at any time and quite unexpectedly.


Another mechanism to create mutual trust and to reduce concerns regarding abuse or corruption is the concept of community policing. These initiatives have gained currency across the world and are becoming the norm in all democratic countries. Community policing is intended to build public confidence in the police and ensure that the police are accountable to the law and to the community it serves. It involves citizens in the police work, such as night patrol schemes, where citizens go with police officer for patrol. In South Asia there have been some very successful initiatives like the Janmaitri Community Policing Initiative in Kerala. Dr. B. Sandhya, IG Police of the Kerala Police Force, pointed out that it not only created more trust in the police, but also enabled the police to build up a new kind of self esteem and to conduct their job more professionally.

The conference has shown that Police Reforms in general, but especially in the South Asian case, are only possible with a strong civil society that creates the political awareness and will for those reforms. Without public pressure there is no incentive for the administration to change course and the regulations from the colonial times will still be in force. Civil Society has to take a stand for Police Reforms and this conference was a starting point to create region wide awareness of strategies and tactics designed to address the existing problems. For more details visit: www.nipsa.in

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