Making reason the first resort

Over the past month, personnel of the Chandigarh Police have figured in a number of ambiguous situations. An SHO thought it his business ...

Over the past month, personnel of the Chandigarh Police have figured in a number of ambiguous situations. An SHO thought it his business to establish the identity and antecedents of a couple at a discotheque; the couple thought it was an unwarranted intrusion. The policeman apparently overstepped his authority and was sent to lines.

Last week, another SHO, reportedly acting on information that some men had forced two young women into their car, got a beating when he intervened. The facts of this incident are still unclear but it is possible the policeman had misunderstood matters. These incidents are mild in contrast to the July 18, 1997 incident in which an enraged policeman allegedly shot and killed a PCO operator. In this case, the Chandigarh Police was accused of trying to shield the policeman. Many such incidents are reported these days, which could mean that frequency is increasing, or that citizens are growing more assertive vis a vis the police.

For many years, the threat of terrorism made it expedient to invest the police with sweeping powers and near total immunity to complaints. Those years brought questions as to the nature of governance and power into sharp focus. Ideally, a police force is a tool of governance and a not a tool of power. The difference is important. The police exercises authority, not power. One must admit that reality presses down on policemen in the most immediate way and they can rarely afford the luxury of idealism. Ideally, law, society and power structures are congruent but this is not so in reality. The overlaps and lacunae add up to temptations for some, administrative problems or even ethical dilemmas for others. One way of describing the police is to call the force society8217;s lightning rod: it attracts trouble to itself and conducts it harmlessly away, minimising disturbance to the rest. As it must be in constant contact with trouble, a police force must be tough, capable of violence and, at its core, dangerous.Because the police is dangerous, discipline is essential otherwise the police becomes dangerous to everyone and not just to law-breakers.

In a large state, a policeman can be shifted from place to place, thereby discouraging any undesirable nexus from forming and giving the man wider experience. Transfer is not an option for the Chandigarh police, with the result that a policeman may develop a feeling of absolute security as well as relationships that interfere with the performance of his duties. In this situation, it would be wise for senior police officers to closely monitor the conduct of their subordinates and make it clear that misdeeds will be strictly dealt with.

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