Monday 20 March 2000
An analytical study of the philosophy and field dynamics of the policing in practice with live instances from the field penned by a Police Officer from India. The hypocrisy and the sad state of affairs in the profession in India and the UPSC as its appointing agent are effectively brought out by the author.



Hi-tech policing is the need of the hour

Anantha Krishnan M.

What ails professional policing in India? Is Indian police at crossroads? What course should Indian police pursue in the 21st century? Is the rat race at the top gnawing at our police system? These are not the questions for a sub-inspector's exam. But, are the paths trodden by a Bangalore police official in his efforts at introspection.

Policing the Police by Praveen Kumar is a sequel to his Policing for the New Age and most of the articles were published in leading newspapers and journals.

The author expresses concern over sycophants climbing the ladder and reaching the top to hold the reins and guide the destiny of the police. The result -- a spiritless culture created by incompetent leaders.

Terming the policemen as social doctors, the book says: "Policing is a surgical operation to systematically remove the cancerous growths from the body of society. What if the band of doctors itself is infested with serious malignant growths? This is the position of the present day Indian police."

The problems of Indian police lie in a lack of understanding of the scope and ground rules of its work. This results in the absence of a proper set of standards to approach the call of duty. Consequently, each call of duty is approached subjectively, depending upon the mood and understanding of the police in charge of the situation. This, unfortunately, is accepted by all strata of people. The Indian police never recognises the equality of all and the need to provide security to all citizens of India, the author points out.

In one of the chapters, the author feels that hi-tech policing is imperative in the 21st century. "Police cannot afford to lose ground to criminals in the field of hi-tech. Efficiency of policing is pro rata to competence to perform in a given situation in meeting challenges offered. The competence necessarily implies moving pari passu with the fast changing hi-tech environment in the fields of transport, communication, weaponry and detection system. Police can ignore this only at its own peril."

Praveen Kumar works as Superintendent of Police, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) incharge of Bangalore region. His earlier works include Divya Belaku and Bhavana (collection of Kannada poems); Unknown Horizons and Portraits of Passion, (collection of English poems).

Speaking to The Times of India, Praveen Kumar claimed that the book addresses all the nagging problems of present-day policing with clarity and vision. When asked if he ran into any trouble with higher officials for his strong comments, he said, "Till now nothing. Being a government servant, I shouldn't oppose the policies of the government. Through my books, I have tried to dig out the flaws in Indian policing system and recommended some remedies. It is not pointed at any individual or organisation."

Policing the police involves self-policing. Internal vigil against lawlessness within in the form of prevention, investigation, enforcement and protection motivated by a sense of commitment to law and justice. Through the book, the author has made an honest effort to throw some light on the state of affairs of Indian police.

Policing The Police, is priced at Rs 175 and is published by Sapna Book House, Bangalore. For more details contact the publishers on 2266088, 2262815.

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