Institutionalizing police reforms is must to tackle the trust deficit between the public and the police in KP Province,  Tariq Javed, Additional Inspector General of Police (Elite), KP spoke at the opening ceremony of “Ulasi Police” 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 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.

Speaking on the occasion, the AIG (Elite), Mr. Tariq Javed, emphasized on the institutionalization of the public police partnership and stressed on the need for greater advocacy for the image building of Police. He said the police need operational autonomy to function impartially and effectively and the KP Police – in this regard – has succeeded to some extent.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, ANP leader who also participated in the event as guest speaker, said that the KP Police has been playing a front line role in war against terror and has laid down tremendous sacrifices going above and beyond the call of their duty. “Due to prolong insurgency in the region, there is a dire need to bring social reforms in police system in order to make them more public friendly”. He assured his full support in bringing reforms in the Police system and improving its image.

Mr. Shaukat Yousafzai, PTI Leader said that the initiatives like “Ulasi Police” is need of the hour to restore the public trust in Police and address the issue of trust deficit that subsists despite the operational autonomy of police force. The Police has multipronged challenges and its de-politicization can help them standing up to these challenges. DRCs is also a good step-ahead as part of the efforts to serve the public. Police also has a key counter-terrorism role which lends greater significance to the reforms and steps taken to improve its performance.