Hyderabad: People-friendly policing does not seem to have gone down well with lower rung TS cops. The city witnessed several examples of violent policing recently. In an audio clip which went viral, a police officer is heard abusing a driver caught without documents. The rider is heard pleading with the officer to let him go but he is assaulted. Senior officers say some cops take their powers for granted and resort to violence.
The police has unlimited discretionary powers. They can enter any premises or pick up anyone on the road and take them to the police station. Often they misuse these powers.
Some recent incidents show the high-handedness of cops. People have been assaulted, abused, and money extorted from them. In the audio clip that went viral, the biker caught without documents addresses the cop as anna and the cops start abusing him and forces him into the police vehicle. After that, he is assaulted, till he apologises for calling the cop anna, and pleads with him to let go.
Though friendly policing is a good initiative, no one can replace the disciplinary mechanism of the department. “Unless bosses exercise absolute supervision over juniors this will not become a reality,” seniors said.
Senior officers say that whenever such incidents are brought to their notice, an inquiry is ordered, but that is not enough. “All incidents must be probed immediately and action taken. In some cases, people are seen provoking cops especially on traffic issues. Action should caution the entire force but excessive punishment demoralises them,” a senior officer said.
Though cops are subject to constant provocations, they are told not to react excessively. In such incidents instead of taking the law into their hands they should be taken to the police station and dealt with as per law. “Sometimes the role of superiors affects juniors. How they look at a particular issue defines how subordinates act. Officers should conduct a fair probe,” senior officers said.
Frustration main cause of violence among juniors
Senior officers say that most of the times violence is due to built-up frustration. They say it’s a reaction which was suppressed for a long time.
Training sessions have been conducted for officers of the rank of inspectors and above but there was no such thing for junior cadres. Regular training in behavioural patterns should be given and welfare measures must be instituted for juniors on par with that of officers to avoid problems.
Often seniors keep a watch on their subordinates, but that is not enough to bring about a change. “There should be continuous training on these issues as juniors are the most stressed group. So they should be taken care of well. Then the rest would follow,” officials said.
Behaviour also depends on how they are treated by bosses. “How a leader takes care of his men defines the behaviour of the force. If they feel that they are not taken care of properly they behave badly,” they said.
Most problems happen when cops are denied family life. This builds up frustration and they vent it on the public. “Whenever there is an incident they take action against the person, but no one is concerned about why he behaved that way. There should be a study on the root cause of such issues and a solution should be worked out. Till then friendly policing will be a mirage,” officials said.
