17 August,2011 07:06 AM IST | | Vinod Kumar Menon
Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik asks senior police inspectors to identify shortcomings among junior cops according to a catalogue of classifications, and display the list in police stations
This is a lexicon unlike any other, aimed at shaming the city's errant law-enforcers into conformity.
Arup Patnaik
The city's bottom and mid-level officers will soon have to learn the alphabet anew, with the Commissioner Arup Patnaik preparing a catalogue of misdemeanours, each of which will act as a veritable label used to brand errant cops.
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By identifying their failings and exposing it to fellow cops, the mastermind behind the ingenious method hopes to cure the ailing force of all its habitual shortcomings.
So cops will now be learning their alphabets anew its 'A' for absentees, 'B' for boozers, 'C' for corrupt. Once the cop earns an ignoble label, it will be put alongside his name on a chart, and hung up for all to see in the senior inspectors' room.
Needless to say, lower level police constables are less than happy about this new method, claiming that it might be used unfairly by their seniors to demoralise them, turning a deaf ear to their problems.
"This is a means to humiliate us publicly. Every time I enter the senior inspectors' room, the chart stares back at me, accusing me of being a habitual absentee.u00a0 My senior inspector never even gave me a chance to explain my absence," said a constable in the Eastern region.
Another sub-inspector from the Western region added, "This gives senior inspectors the chance to misuse their power, especially if they harbour ill will for a particular officer."
IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh said, "This is a good move, but prone to misuse, because there are no adequate safeguards to prevent arbitrary decision making.
A committee of independent and neutral observers should be conferred the duty of branding the cops with labels, after taking inputs from all the concerned persons and giving the affected cops the chance to exonerate themselves."
Keeping track of errant cops
Nisar Tamboli, spokesperson and deputy commissioner of police (crime) justified the move, saying, "The system has been tailored to help senior officials keep track of errant cops.
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Senior inspectors of all 89 police stations across the city have been instructed to maintain the chart.
The circular that has been sent to all
police stations across the city
Any cop who feels that injustice is being done to him may approach the assistant commissioner, deputy commissioner or additional commissioner when they visit the station."
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He added, "The chart prepared by the senior police inspector is not a permanent one, and is subject to review."
Former police commissioner Julio Ribeiro said, "When I was part of the force, I preferred playing on the strengths of my policemen, rather than their weaknesses."
Topu00a0Cop Speaks
Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik explained, "This is a time-tested method that has always yielded results. Even in a classroom, the task of the teacher is to identify the troublemakers, and compel them to mend their ways.
For instance, I once detained an alcoholic cop at the station for days, and cured him of his habit.
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The idea behind devising these categories within the force is not to punish the cops, but to cultivate accountability and responsibility in them.
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They must remember that while they are being monitored by their seniors, I am being judged every day by the government and the public."
