“My colleagues and I feel insecure as we have no safety guards. We stand alert all the time during our duty hours and keep a vigilant eye on the movement of people all around us. An ambusher or attacker can approach us from any side. If we police personnel are not safe, how we can take proper measures to save others,” said a young guard posted outside a rented police station in Peshawar.

Experts on security issues believe that poor infrastructure advisedly affects efficiency and service deliverability of the police.

“Numerous militant attacks on the police stations and checkposts, which have resulted in killing hundreds of cops, necessitates that the authorities concerned seriously resolve this issue by providing foolproof security to police force in the first place to effectively control crime rate and subvert terrorist attacks” Zarrak Khan, a retired police officer, told this scribe.

Another official said that young police guards posted in and outside police stations and police posts operating in rented buildings felt insecure and lived in a state of discomfort.

“If a complainant comes up for lodging a complaint, he/she is being greeted by ugly bags of sands and a mash of razor wires on the entrance of the police stations,” he said. He added that police stations and police posts operating in rented buildings were in the most cases private homes, not fit for police operation.

“How can a private residence or a household building serve as a police station or police post? Such places should not be used on permanent basis. Condition of almost all these structures is miserable. No proper facilities are available for the policemen working there,” said the official.

According to record, out of 282 police stations and 500 police posts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, half of these are being operated in rented buildings while many others are housed in dilapidated structures.

The record reveals that the condition of nine police stations in and around Peshawar city namely Shaheed Gulfat Hussain, Shah Qabool, West Cantt, Machini Gate, Daudzai, Nasir Bagh, Pawaki, and Mathra is extremely poor and lack even basic facilities. It adds that police stations built in provincial metropolis during British era had not been renovated even once.

“Most of police installations lack basic facilities including toilets, restrooms and space for complainants,” a police report noted.

As per the data, in Peshawar district three police stations located in Sarband, Pahripura and Tehkal; in Nowshera district one police station in Akbarpura; in Mardan district in Parhoti, Garikapura and Saroshah; in Swabi district in Zaida and Torder; in Shangla district in Bisham, Kabalgram and Gandigar; in Upper Dir district in Jagam, Khagram, Sahibabad and Shahikot; and in Chitral district a police station in Bumburat are being run on rent money from Rs2,000 to Rs45,000 per month.

A senior police official told this scribe that around 70 police posts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also in shambles and recent rainstorms rendered them vulnerable to militants’ threats. He said that 21 police stations in the province were in dilapidated condition, 14 needed repair while 11 were operating in British-era buildings, which needed reconstruction.

“Around 51 police stations are built on pieces of land not owned by the police department. Only seven police stations are comparatively in good condition but still lack basic facilities,” said the official.

The provincial government under a foreign-funded project had declared three police stations -- University Town, Faqirabad and Gulbahar -- as model police stations in April 2014 but it did not bring any significant change except some infrastructural modifications and provision of modern gadgets.

“The move could not impress me much as almost everything goes here in the same old manner as in the rest of the police stations,” an official at Faqirabad police station told this scribe on condition of anonymity.

During a visit to the oldest police stations in Peshawar city, it was found in unfavourable condition. The Hashtnagari police station was built in 1936 during British Raj. A policeman said that they received minimal budget for maintenance and other works and the rest of the needs including wear and tear of the station were met on their own.

“Authorities are well aware of our situation as they pay regular surprise visits. When a law- abiding citizen approaches us for filing a complaint what impression will our bizarre situation cast on him/her? Yes I agree a discomfort police cop will half-heartedly perform his duty. I am not suggesting that we suffer from inefficiency right now but one can visualise that poor infrastructure may hamper or affect even law and order in the city,” said the policeman.

The recent spell of rains badly hit building of Paharipura police station. It is located on the western entrance of Peshawar city at the edge of Ring Road where a young police guard told this scribe: “This police station was set up in a private rented residence in 2006. The recent spell of rains to some extent ,soaked record files and ledgers stacked on tables in the station. It is dripping all over. We are not safe here, the residence is in poor shape.”

Another big problem that contributes to murky look of police stations is that of the site of impounded cars on the premises of the police installations.

Syed Sabz Ali Shah, an octogenarian crime reporter in Peshawar, said he had been worked with Urdu press for the last 36 years. “The police stations present neither a favourable environment for inmates (cops) nor public. In addition to poor infrastructure, the site of cars and other vehicles seized on various pretexts also offers a bad look,” he observed.

He said that there should be a proper mechanism for dumping the impounded vehicles.

Capital City Police Officer Mubarak Zeb told this scribe that it was a serious issue as inmates of a police station with poor condition ran risk of vulnerability and it could affect services of the force.

“KP police are efficient and well-trained to combat any threat. When it comes to infrastructure, it is a very serious problem. Some of the police stations and posts need immediate reconstruction, repair and renovation from security point of view,” he said.

Mr Zeb said that provincial government and police high-ups were trying their best to improve working environment for police force and also improve its infrastructure. He said that around eight police stations in Peshawar had been rebuilt while working on others was underway.

“A detailed report in this regard has been sent to the project coordinator unit of the police construction officer. We are waiting for its response and we hope for the better,” said Mr Zeb.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2016