Changing police culture

Changing the culture of the police has become a sort of slogan that every government – political or non-political – finds itself obliged to chant. Courts are putting a lot of pressure to change policing practices and the media is coming up with scandals exposing bad elements of police culture on an almost daily basis. Senior policemen claim they are endeavouring hard to bring about a change in police culture but change is hardly visible. No surprise! Police cultures all over the world have been found resistant to change. It is interesting to note that even in advanced countries, campaigns are launched from time to time to do away with the negative features of their police cultures, but the process of change is always slow and protracted.
Prominent uniform, show of force through display of weapons, regimentation and obedience to authority (command) are some of the features of police culture which fundamentally distinguish the police from rest of the public. Whereas these characteristics help to maintain the internal discipline of the organisation, they also serve to intimidate and overawe the public to keep them docile and subservient. These are inbuilt by design as the colonial rulers raised this institution to control the native population presuming them no better than an uncivilised and unruly mob. Not only was there physical form shaped to design, their attitudes, behaviours, way of thinking and talking were also formulated in such a way as to scare the public and keep them at bay. That is why visiting a police station still remains an unpleasant experience for the common man. The change would have been possible, had we changed the objectives of the organisation from serving as instrument of the control to providing service to the community.
An account of police culture cannot be complete without mentioning the element of corruption, which has so pervaded the rank and file of the organisation that it is becoming acceptable as a norm.
Before suggesting any measures to change the police culture, it should be kept in mind that the majority of cultural characteristics emanate from the objectives of the organisation, its operational dynamics and legal framework and the overall economic, social and political milieu in which the organisation operates. It should also be realised that not all the features of culture are negative and whereas the negative ones must be rooted out, the positive ones must be preserved and strengthened. As mentioned earlier, despite declarations by various governments, reform efforts by senior management, punitive action by courts and bitter criticism by the press and public, one hardly finds any substantial change in the police culture. This strengthens the wider belief and scepticism as to whether the police culture can really be changed?
Unfortunately, so far we have had either undemocratic regimes or weak democratic governments which themselves depended on the civil administration and police to achieve their goals and, in some cases, for their mere survival. It should be remembered that the way governments use their institutions has a lot to do with shaping up their culture. If a government promotes police as a public service organisation, we have a culture of respect for law and ethical policing. But on the other hand, if a government uses police as a tool to further its own objectives a culture of corruption, unlawfulness and unethical practices is inevitable. In this context, following are a few suggestions which, if made a part of a reform strategy and implemented with conviction and consistency, can help bring about a meaningful change:

8 Political interference must come to an end.
8 Competent and upright officers must be posted at district and sub-divisional levels with a specific task to bring about a cultural transformation. In order to give them free reign and safeguard them against external influences their tenures must be guaranteed.
8 The accountability laws and disciplinary rules need to be revisited to remove the loopholes and make them more effective. The district commanders must be authorised to take action against all officers up to the rank of inspectors.
8 Educational standard for recruitment at lower levels should be enhanced: it should be FA for constables and BA for ASIs. Merit must also be ensured.
8 The training curricula at all levels need to be revised to include subjects aimed at transforming the old mindset to discourage the negative values of the culture and encourage the positive ones such as a sense of mission, the desire to rid the streets of bad guys, dedication and willingness to work long hours and to do the society’s dirty work.
8 Police should be provided with enough material resources to eliminate the excuse of resource constraint as the cause of corruption.
8 The community participation in police work should be encouraged as this will not only enhance police performance through public cooperation but also bring the police under direct public gaze and scrutiny.
8 More and more women should be inducted in the force to tone down the machismo element and add a measure of softness to the police working culture.
8 Job specialisation may eliminate the ills of ‘everyone doing everything’ and in the process gathering negative values of all the aspects of police working.

The writer is a senior police officer.