Seeking ‘logistical’ support from complainants, the police even ask people to bring their own stationery so they could register FIRs for them. According to Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN’s) Police Station Monitor, 90 police stations were visited in 62 districts across the country during January – March 2011. Of the monitored 90 police stations, 39 were monitored in Punjab, 23 in KP, 20 police stations in Sindh, seven in Balochistan and one in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
Vehicles were available with all the monitored police stations from the police department, and 84 police stations confirmed that they were also getting fuel for the vehicles from the department concerned.
Yet people at 12 percent police stations interviewed by FAFEN monitors complained that the police sought logistical support from them in order to carry out their duty of investigating a case. Similarly, the necessary stationery for registering First Information Reports (FIRs) was not available at 24 of the monitored police stations. At 13 police stations, the police moharrar (the official who registers an FIR) even asked people to bring their own stationery in order to get registered an FIR.
The report said police stations in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are understaffed to a varying degree, while those in Balochistan and Islamabad Capital Territory are heavily overstaffed.
In Sindh, more than one third of the sanctioned police posts (34 percent) are lying vacant, K-P police stations have 20 percent less staff than the sanctioned number of personnel, while Punjab police stations are yet to fill 8 percent sanctioned posts. In stark contrast, a police station monitored in Islamabad have an occupancy rate of 140 percent implying that 40 percent more staff is working there than the sanctioned posts.
Similarly, an occupancy rate of 112 percent was observed in monitored police stations of Balochistan. Such disparity in the deployment of police force reflects upon the preferences of authorities in protecting the citizens. Police stations in regions like Sindh and KP where 34 percent and 20 percent of the posts were vacant, warrant immediate action as KP and parts of Sindh are coming under frequent terrorist attacks. Shortage of police force in these relatively more volatile parts seriously hampers the ability of police to maintain law and order and protect the citizens, the report suggests.
