Incidents like three U.P.Policemen belabouring a detenu in full public view at the apex court; tatooing the foreheads of hapless women by Punjab police; custodial death in Kerala, have shaken the Nation and the citizens are concerned and are wondering how to humanise the police force in India. These incidents not only sully the fair name of Indian Democracy but also provide the grist to anti-India propaganda mills abroad. Policing is not a the police organisation functions, truly reflect the values and norms of that society. The present state of dehumanised condition of police service is the cumulative results of various factors, for which the society should also share the blame. Mere punishment meted out to few erring policemen and public relations gimmicks of Police brass cannot solve this problem. We need an indepth introspection and come out with long range solutions.

Police are not a bunch of sadists or psychopaths with a propensity to inflict violence on people. Thousands of policemen have given their lives to safeguard the unity and integrity of this country and have rendered valuable and yeoman service during natural calamities and in controlling organised crime. The basic causes which make the policemen act in a inhuman way are: negative role assigned to the police under the Police Act of 1861; Police-politician nexus and establishment protection role of police which negates public accountability; total collapse of criminal judicial system which enables the people to clamour for ready and rough justice to the criminals and indirectly accord sanction to police violence; prevalence of organisational sub-culture which fosters and nurtures the credo ends justify the means; and absence of a self-regulating mechanism within the police organisation.

Police Act of 1861, under which Police function, assigns a negative and restrictive role to the Police. It enjoins police to be a servant of the government and not the servants of Law. Police have been extensively used in India by politicians to maintain the hegemony of the ruling party and smother opposition. This establishment protection role has created a nexus between the Police and the Politician and has created a situation of quid-pro-quo, in which the politicians has forfeited his right of supervision over police for the favours rendered.

Secondly, Law and Order do not go hand in hand and often they work at cross purposes. While performing order maintenance functions, police often give a go by to legal requirements. Since disorder threatens the ruling political elite, police are given wide latitude to restore order and illegalities like illegal detentions, fake-encounters, eliminations are overlooked, connived at and also encouraged in the process.

Thirdly, police violence often takes place while they are performing the role of crime fighters. Public expect police to prevent, detect and punish crimes. The Criminal Judicial System in the country has collapsed. There is a huge back log of cases pending in all criminal courts. Actually aided and encouraged by the bar, courts grant adjournments on flimsy grounds and cases drag on for years. Adopting the slogan ‘Bail is a Right and Jail is an exception’, well-known hardened criminals are enlarged on bail by the courts to resume their criminal career without let or hindrance. In this atmosphere, police are encouraged to adopt third degree and ensure quick detection of cases. The public are only interested in restoration of their property and status quo ante regarding their rights and possessions and they have no time or care for violation of Human Rights in the process. The general public have lost faith and credibility in the criminal judicial system and in case of distress they seek the help of local mafia or musclemen to solve their problems. Often policemen substitute for these when cases are of a complicated nature.

The performance appraisal system in police organisation is based on quantity and not quality of service rendered. This makes the policeman a prey to the tyrant - statistics. Policeman is under almost inhuman personal and hierarchical pressure to achieve the results target-wise. Since personal advancement and survival depends on quantitative results, none bothers about the means adopted. This has given rise to organisational sub-culture which propagates and nurtures the credo that the ends justify the means.

Police, as a profession, do not have a self-regulating mechanism to provide peer pressure to enable the police to follow legal and ethical means. This can not be provided by the administrative hierarchy but only by fellow policemen acting as a group. There is need for a public service, non-governmental organisation of retired and ex-policemen to be known as ‘POLICE-INITIATIVE’ to act on a watch dog and provide counselling and guidance to police rank and file.

Remedies are not far to seek. Public should take an active interest in the role, functions and organisation of police and public opinion should be mobilised to ensure that the society has a humane and ‘civil’ police. Police should be made real public servants and cease to be government servants. The suggestion of the National Police Commission to have a State Security Commission to oversee the working of Police should be implemented. A standing permanent Joint Parliament Committee and House Committees in the State Legislatures should continuously monitor the activities of the police. The Apex and High Courts should take active interest in the functioning of criminal courts and take appropriate steps to restore their credibility and ensure quick disposal of criminal cases. The performance evaluation system of Police organisations should be made quality-oriented and not statistics oriented. Finally a massive personal contact programme and a propaganda campaign to instill the values of ethics, legality and Human Rights in the minds of police rank and file should be undertaken by retired/former Policemen by establishing the Organisation ‘POLICE INITIATIVE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS’.

Let us not waste time stressing the obvious and denigrating the police but start positive action to usher in a humane and civil Police Service in India and end the Lathi Raj.