Do Indian Police Need Overhauled?
INTODUCTION
“India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats. It’s time for the government to stop talking about reform and fix the system”.
India's police force, in terms of its organizing principles and organizational culture, has essentially remained the same for the past 200 years. This has caused, and is causing, many problems. India's police force is untrained, brutal,unprofessional, and, for the most part, does not live up to modern standards of police service. Numerous attempts at reform have failed. The situation is dire. Unlike many human right issues where there can be a genuine disagreement about the problem, there is a consensus in India among NGO's, media, human rights groups, and the citizenry, that police reform is desperately needed. However, the structure of political power and a cultural conception which is a relic of colonial times prevents any meaningful reform from being undertaken. A Supreme Court decision from 2006 that tried to direct police reform is likely to fail as well. With no real commitment to reform among elected officials and the citizenry, one is unlikely to come about. This report undertakes one aspect of police reform, that of establishing an external police complaints agency. Although some states have started experimenting with versions of such an agency, in conformity with the Supreme Court decision of 2006, the progress is severely lacking. We describe what a successful and effective police complaints agency must look like, based on comparative experience from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Israel. We then apply that experience to India's situation and conceptualize a complaints agency. Throughout this report, we are well aware that a complaints agency is not the only answer to India's police problems. Indeed, it is but one tool in what should be a toolkit of reforms. The real, and more difficult, reforms must take place
“India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats. It’s time for the government to stop talking about reform and fix the system”.
India's police force, in terms of its organizing principles and organizational culture, has essentially remained the same for the past 200 years. This has caused, and is causing, many problems. India's police force is untrained, brutal,unprofessional, and, for the most part, does not live up to modern standards of police service. Numerous attempts at reform have failed. The situation is dire. Unlike many human right issues where there can be a genuine disagreement about the problem, there is a consensus in India among NGO's, media, human rights groups, and the citizenry, that police reform is desperately needed. However, the structure of political power and a cultural conception which is a relic of colonial times prevents any meaningful reform from being undertaken. A Supreme Court decision from 2006 that tried to direct police reform is likely to fail as well. With no real commitment to reform among elected officials and the citizenry, one is unlikely to come about. This report undertakes one aspect of police reform, that of establishing an external police complaints agency. Although some states have started experimenting with versions of such an agency, in conformity with the Supreme Court decision of 2006, the progress is severely lacking. We describe what a successful and effective police complaints agency must look like, based on comparative experience from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Israel. We then apply that experience to India's situation and conceptualize a complaints agency. Throughout this report, we are well aware that a complaints agency is not the only answer to India's police problems. Indeed, it is but one tool in what should be a toolkit of reforms. The real, and more difficult, reforms must take place