KARACHI, May 10: In his first formal press conference in Karachi after taking charge, the Provincial Police Officer of Sindh, Dr Shoaib Suddle, laid out an ambitions plan of action for reforming the police force and combating crime in the metropolis and province-wide, at the Central Police Office here on Saturday.

At the top of the PPO’s agenda was dealing with what he termed the “serious internal crisis” affecting the Sindh police, exacerbated by “years of politicization and criminalization of the force,” adding that he would “enforce ruthless accountability of the police.”

Accompanied by the capital city police officer and the city’s deputy inspectors general of police (DIGs), Dr Suddle said his first priority is to provide better service to the province irrespective of any other consideration. “Our mandate is what the law commands us to do: to act in accordance with the constitution, the law and the democratic aspirations of the people,” he observed. “We have been mandated to deal with violators of the law irrespective of who they are.”

He said most administrative changes at the senior level in the city had been completed, while he noted that the force’s biggest challenge was to “bridge the gap between the community and the police.”

Citing an example of the police’s “zero tolerance” policy of holding those within the force accountable for acting in contravention of the law, he said a DSP and several subordinates at the Clifton police station had been suspended for releasing suspected robbers after accepting a bribe of Rs700,000. “These black sheep will be handled,” he said.

Saying that he needed a minimum of three months to reorganize the force, Dr Suddle said in the past four weeks since he had taken charge as PPO, there had been a significant drop in crime. Citing figures, he said compared to the average of the past four months, under his watch cellphone thefts had reduced by more than 35 per cent, car thefts by 75 per cent and motorcycle thefts by 35 per cent.

He added that seven criminal gangs had been busted, while over the past four weeks the Karachi police had conducted over 130 encounters/raids. Saying that he couldn’t take credit for the reduced figures yet, he said these efforts needed to be sustained and improved and asked for the support of the citizens and the media.

‘No free lunches’

Dr Suddle said the performance of teams of three to four officers would be reviewed on a weekly basis and there would be “no free lunches.” He said Station House Officers (SHOs), munshis and the traffic section’s Station Officers (SOs) would be given a written test and then interviewed by the DIGs and their maximum posting would be for three months. If there was no improvement in their performance over this period, he said there would be the option of demoting them one step down.

He said the different sections of the Sindh police such as traffic, CID, investigations, etc would be streamlined and formed into a team instead of acting in isolation. “Crime is everyone’s common agenda. Apathy and indifference will be uprooted.”

He said the force would be run on merit and no external influence regarding transfers, postings and promotions would be entertained. “We have no tolerance for sifarish culture. We will reward when reward is due and we won’t hesitate to punish when punishment is due.”

As for out-of-turn promotions, Dr Suddle said though he was not against the concept, he was against the misuse of it. “This misuse creates a disgruntled feeling in the force. These promotions will be looked into thoroughly and only extraordinary performance will be rewarded.”

As far as public complaints were concerned, he said a section had been set up under his direct supervision. “For an hour daily I listen to complaints of police high-handedness and ineffectiveness irrespective of party affiliation.” He said a toll-free number for public complaints would be set up soon, while a complaints section would also be activated on the police website.

He said the registration of first incident reports (FIRs) had been made free and had been de-linked from SHOs; they would now come under the ambit of superintendents of police (SPs). “If there is an increase in crime (figures), it’s because we are trying to get unreported crimes on the record,” he added. He said a UNDP-sponsored special unit to deal with karo kari – so-called honour killings – was also being set up.

Five-year plan

The PPO Sindh also announced the details of a five-year plan for police development, which would address issues of manpower, qualitative improvement, transport and equipment. Giving examples of London and Johannesburg, where he said the placement of security cameras had brought down crime figures by 80 per cent, Dr Suddle hoped a similar initiative for Karachi would yield comparable results.

He said the cost of the five-year plan would amount to Rs50 billion, with about Rs10 billion being spent per year, while 10,000 new recruits would join the force every year.

The PPO also discussed new e-policing initiatives that were in the works.

Though Dr Suddle did not discuss the most recent Lyari police action in his speech, it was briefly mentioned in the accompanying press release. When assailed by questions from reporters – with some suggesting that the police had taken sides when dealing with the gangs of Lyari – the PPO said he would deal with the issue “even-handedly and with total impartiality.”

When asked why the operation had been called off, he said he would not divulge the details of the issue beforehand as it would betray the purpose of the exercise. “Operational details are never released. We will handle it professionally.”

When some media-men contested his claims that crime figures were down, Dr Suddle said the figures could be cross-checked with the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee.

In reply to a question about disarming political parties, he reiterated that the police would deal with the issue in an impartial manner. We will not be deterred by political affiliation. We will do our job.”