Police Oversight Bodies under NISP to be formed to ensure institutional accountability

ISLAMABAD, Jun 22 (APP):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 Police
Department full financial autonomy while cost of investigation
will be reviewed and rationalized on yearly basis.