Police Oversight Bodies Under NISP To Be Formed To Ensure Institutional Accountability

ISLAMABAD, Jun 22 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2018 ) :Police Oversight Bodies (POBs) have been planned to be constituted under National Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2018-23 to ensure overall institutional accountability at provincial level.

These POBs will consist of Provincial Government (which has ultimate responsibility of Superintendence of Police), members of civil society and professionals (retired judges, lawyers and/or Citizen-Police Liaison Committees).

The Policy document available with APP has revealed that state institutions must ensure that they uphold law in order to inspire society to do the same.

Accountability mechanisms will, therefore, be enhanced to ensure that laws and regulations are applied in a non-partisan, independent and transparent manner.

For the purpose of internal accountability, each provincial police department shall create an internal affairs branch. Public complaints shall be facilitated through measures such as online complaint registration; police helpline and use of SMS for routing complaints.

The other initiative proposed that Public Facilitation Centres shall be established to address public queries.

Similarly, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) will set up dedicated desks to provide information under the `Right to Information' Act. LEAs will establish strategic communications units to improve citizen liaison, dissemination of information and responsiveness to various stakeholders.

It has been proposed that policing needs to be improved significantly in Pakistan in terms of performance, accountability and effectiveness for the NISP to be successful.

The Police is Primary law enforcement agency that provides the first line of defence against all unlawful activities.

The para-military forces and armed forces provide second and third lines of defence and must only be used as the last resort.

Coordination mechanisms will be introduced to bridge communication gap between police and other actors of criminal justice system and capacity building and training programmes for Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) will be enhanced to incorporate international best practices to avoid mishandling or mismanagement of sensitive issues.

Moreover, Digital and Electronic record keeping systems will also be established under NISP in all segments of police organization.

Collection of forensic evidence in all cases will be made mandatory by amending Police rules, police stations will be digitized and made accessible through electronic means and systems will be established to facilitate online First Information Report (FIR) registration and electronic submission of challans to prosecution and courts.

The document further revealed that such systems have already been established in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) while other provinces will be encouraged to establish similar system.

The other initiatives include compensation structure of LEAs will be amended to incorporate working hours, risks and stress level, completion of forensic science laboratories will be prioritized in all provinces, highly qualified scientists will be appointed to head forensic science laboratories, recruitment will be open to private sector with competitive salaries and Forensic Lab data in provinces will be interlinked for data sharing and accessing facilities.

Similarly, Community Policing will be expanded to foster trust, open communication and engagement between the police and local communities while existing community policing initiatives will be appraised and used to inform development of a new National Community Policing Plan (NCPP).

Moreover, integrated national database comprising Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), Driving License, finger prints, immigration entry/exits, toll plaza entries, vehicle number plate, arms license, mobile SIM details etc.

will be set up.

Criminal Record Database will be unified at national level with access available to all LEAs.

Recently established Cyber Patrolling Unit at Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will be resourced and empowered to monitor Social Media including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter etc.

to curb their misuse for unlawful activities.

The existing video surveillance system will be upgraded through early completion of Safe City projects and integrating video surveillance systems of private establishments with that of public areas.

In consultation with provinces, National Police Bureau (NPB) will bring all training institutions under uniform minimum standards of training, efforts will be made to give PoliceDepartment full financial autonomy while cost of investigationwill be reviewed and rationalized on yearly basis. aa