Peshawar: The Ulasi Police project has a great impact in addressing the public-police trust deficit, establishing linkages between them, helping public learn about the police reforms and police to incorporate the policing needs of communities. The public-police dialogue on the policing needs of communities, propagation of police reforms and public services on offer by the police should continue in a sustainable manner. The respect for the law of the land needs to be restored among the general public and the factors which lead to the violation need to be analyzed and addressed. The reforms and autonomy have empowered the police department in improving their efficiency, performance, administration, logistics and operations. The specialized training schools which are at the core of capacity building of KP police, have increased the performance in different areas such as investigation, intelligence, riot management, explosive handling, IT and tactics. The role of communities for a peaceful society is also crucial.
These were the notions expressed by Mr. Sahibzada Sajjad Ahmed, SP Security, Peshawar during a consultative meeting of working group on police reforms in Peshawar. The meeting was a part of the project “Ulasi Police”, which is an awareness and advocacy campaign undertaken by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) – as part of USAID Small Grants and Ambassadors’ Fund Program – to strengthen the rule of law in KP province by promoting and disseminating the significant police reforms aimed at incorporating local communities’ policing needs and international human rights standards. The endeavor aims to tackle the trust deficit between the public and police, help KP police become an accountable and community-focused police force.
Mr. Sajjad said that the use of IT tools that have been introduced as part of the reforms have not only helped police in controlling crimes and countering terrorism but also facilitated the public to a great extent. Some examples are Identity Verification System (IVS) and Criminal Record Verification System (CRVS). With the utilization of these tools, the citizens no longer have to wait for hours on the police check posts for security clearance as it can now be done within few seconds.
The participating female police officers said that Ulasi Police inspired them into carrying out an awareness campaign about the role of women in police and motivating the young females to pursue police as a career.
The participating working group members of communities said that there was a dire need to educate public about the police reforms and the services police is offering for benefitting the common citizens given that the public at large are unaware of all these significantly important new initiatives. They said that KPPO 2016 is an excellent development but it should be implemented in letter and spirit. The police performance is improving day by day; but needs to be improved further to win the hearts of public. Every police official should be given equal opportunities for career growth and development.