Police Training in Pakistan: the need to improvise

In Blog
April 20, 2021
Hamna Sajjad
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There are three branches of law in any democratic country: the legislators, the judiciary, and the executives. From them, it is the executives who have the job of applying the laws of their country effectively and the police falls well within this branch. But, applying the laws requires for the police to be aware of

There are three branches of law in any democratic country: the legislators, the judiciary, and the executives. From them, it is the executives who have the job of applying the laws of their country effectively and the police falls well within this branch. But, applying the laws requires for the police to be aware of their importance, and to harbor the respect for them. However, in Pakistan unfortunately, the police are considered to be one of the most feared, distrusted and complained against government institution. Although measures have been taken to eliminate this negative image, what needs to be properly improved is the training of the police, to make it more practical than theoretical.

Pakistan’s police institution may have a lack a clear system of accountability. There are claims of corruption at the highest levels, with district level officers being controlled by wealthy and influential members of society; and to be indifferent to the hardships of ordinary citizens. Furthermore, the institution of police has serious allegations of human rights violations being carried out by the force.

Among the reasons listed for such violations, a primary factor is inadequate training. Although the mission of the police training branch is stated to be the building of “the capacity in the human resource” so that the challenges which come with policing can be tackled. Yet, unfortunately, the training is claimed to be redundant and weak, having little relevance to the field of policing. The specialised trainings, as well, lack competitiveness and this is supported by the fact that there are hardly any dropouts in the training phase. This implies that the training is seen as nothing more than a mere formality which needs to be fulfilled to obtain the benefits which come with joining the police.

But there are consequences of poor training. It leads to inefficient and troublesome policing for citizens leading to allegations of unprofessionalism and excessive use of force. Training is key to good investigation. If a police officer is not equipped well with modern ways of training, it will create hurdles towards building the trust in police force. Majority of investigation officers are unaware of modern scientific techniques of investigation, encouraging many including courts to continue questioning the credibility of the evidence which is collected. Proper training of police force, especially investigation officers can help overcome this problem.

There is a also a lot of debate about corruption and incompetence, which is also attributable to lack of proper training. Lack of proper training means increased corruption in the police force. The Former IGP, Zulfiqar Cheema, expressed that there are two basic qualities required for the police officers and they are “integrity and effectiveness.” However, he went on to state that some officers who are honest are otherwise ineffective, being useless in the field of law enforcement as they can hardly contribute to the system. Whereas there are some effective officers but then they are corrupt. He also added that the current political influence upon the police is one which was not present even during the dictatorial regime.

Criteria of selection of police officers is also very important. It serves as the basis of recruitment and training. Currently, to join the police institution, the CSS exam needs to be passed. However, the former IGP Islamabad, Sikandar Hayat expressed that there are certainly there are no officers who are completely appropriate for the key posts in the institution and, instead those who can meet the minimum standard are selected for the job.

Nevertheless, the above is not to say that steps have not been taken to recenter the police to fulfill its constitutional duty. In 2017, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act was passed in the province. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also undertook to professionalize police through reorganization, the provision of specialized training, improving public outreach to the police and by addressing the gender imbalance by having more females join. Furthermore, the Punjab police decided to conduct a refresher training course in 2018, in which more than five hundred police officers were given lectures by experts on the ethics of the police force. However, a police official claimed that until the existing system in which the police officers work is changed, one where there is a lack of proper housing, medical and education facilities, the behavior of the police with the public cannot be changed.

Yet, when close attention is paid, it will be understood that providing simple lectures on how a police officer should behave is not enough for the police to uphold its constitutional duty, as it is easy for one to informed about professional responsibilities. Instead, it is practical training and capacity building of the police force that needs to be prioritized, there are some duties and functions that can only embedded within the police force once there are rigorous and practical training courses that are mandatory at all trainings of the police.

Reforming laws should not only be limited to the assumption of the power which the police force entails but rather should truly change the way the police carry out its duties. At the same time, these laws should aid the force in their duties. This means clearly laying down the responsibilities of the police and, most importantly, state the penalties. For, it is evident that until the police are trained in a practical manner, the enforcement of the law will not take place in an effective manner.