Even though the ratio of street crimes is rapidly increasing, the Karachi police, particularly the Station House Officers (SHOs), are reluctant to register cases just to make sure their job is secured.
Besides, despite this mighty increase in crime in the city, the victims of street crimes also do not seem to take interest in registration of their complaints due to the behaviour of police, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Karachi police has consistently failed to facilitate the registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) even though crime rate is increasing.
As per police law of performance, an SHO is bound to submit his police station’s daily report (Roznamcha) to the concerned police headquarters. Their posting at a police station is attached to how their Roznamcha shows their performance. If the Roznamcha contains a large number of complaints, the SHO is transferred or suspend. According to sources, the major impediment in the registration of FIRs in the city is the so-called thana culture which is still prevalent in most of the police stations and no police chiefs have been able to eradicate it yet. The police has failed to develop a citizen-friendly image over the years. Even the Police Order 2002, which was aimed at reforming the police department, has failed to bring about positive changes in the attitudes of police officers. At a time when the e-policing project is in its implementation phase, staffers at some police stations in the city still use the excuse of non-availability of stationery for not registering the FIRs.
Under such circumstances, people generally avoid going to police stations to lodge FIRs, even if they fall victim to mobile phone snatching or similar street crimes.
A visit to several prominent police stations of the city suggested that FIRs were still not being lodged until the SHOs gave green signal. In some instances, even the SHO asked his superior officers, the SP of his town, before deciding whether or not to register a case.
“There is a need launch institutions like Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) to help the public in redressing their grievances against the police and have a better public oversight of the police. In this regard, the Sindh home department is planning to establish such bodies so that the growing crimes could be controlled and people could be facilitated to register their complaints,” said Advisor to the Sindh Home Minister Sindh Sharf-Ud-Din Memon while talking to Pakistan Today.
He said that he was going to plan how to facilitate the people of the city as they were facing difficulties in police related matters.
Memon said that he was assisting the home minister in various projects, like maintain the law and order situation, improving the image of the police, implementation of the police reforms, community policing and e-policing project etc.
He said that in capacity of the CPLC chief, he had mostly dealt with the kidnapping for ransom cases and had handled over 650 cases. Memon had been associated with the CPLC for 19 years, including seven years as its chief.
