Chandigarh, Oct 11: Officer-oriented policing, one of the major proposals in the police modernisation plan put before the UT Administration, has generated wide interest, as well as curiosity to know what such a shift in policing will imply.The police have offered to surrender three constables for every two officers of the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector. Such a revamp is expected to improve interaction with the public. "Police misbehaviour" has long been a grouse of Chandigarh's educated citizens; it is hoped that the shift toward better schooled officers will obviate that complaint.The new equipment requested for crowd-control also reflects the desire to move away from brute force. Existing anti-riot equipment includes such things as cane shields, padded jackets and lathis. The capsicum spray, shock batons, stun grenades and rubber bullets requested in the plan represent a move towards restraining the unruly without necessarily maiming or killing them. This is a particularly welcome move in the UT, given the large number of rallies and dharnas which take place here.Police interest in adopting modern techniques of investigation and interrogation is another significant stride. "Old-fashioned police work" (also known as the Third Degree) might have been highly effective in producing confessions, but did not necessarily guarantee that the man who committed the crime was apprehended and successfully prosecuted. To this end, the Behavioural Science Laboratory, intended to carry out psychological analysis of suspects (and potential police recruits for that matter), is a step in the right direction. Likewise, the plan's emphasis on equipment and training for scientific detective work shows that the police is aware of present shortcomings and desirable goals for the future.A fully equipped bomb disposal/anti-sabotage team sounds expensive at Rs 2.1 crore, but one can see the need. Such a team is not a luxury. One may, however, question whether a city police really needs machine pistols-5, sniper rifles and AK-47s. The plan claims that raising a battalion of Chandigarh Armed Police to replace the battalion of Central paramilitary force (cost: Rs 5 crore per annum) will save money. Maybe so. One would like to see the exact cost figures for each.When it comes to traffic control, any and all efforts to tackle the problem will have the citizens' wholehearted support. Many of the proposals put forward in the plan sound wonderful but doubts arise when one asks whether the city will be able to afford them.It must be remembered that such things as systems for closed circuit surveillance via digital video cameras not only represent an initial outlay but also a maintenance budget. No point in installing them if they aren't kept working.The proposal for a Global Positioning System (GPS) and digitised map of the city with vehicle tracking system is also 21st century stuff . very impressive, but can the city afford it?Less costly is the proposal to create a modern and fully equipped motor driving and training school. This can be easily done; in fact it should have been done long ago.The same goes for the proposed police training school for both recruits and serving personnel. How is it that the city police has been without a training centre of its own all these years?
