Funds for policing

The  Sindh government has decided to purchase 300 armoured vehicles, costing Rs6.5 billion, for the police. The decision reflects the government’s resolve to invest more in policing.

There is no doubt that investment in policing pays off. The developed world has brought the financing of policing within the sphere of development. This is because policing is no longer cheap. But in Pakistan, perhaps because of the colonial hangover, policing is considered a non-developmental affair. While there is a widespread impression that the police get a major share of provincial budgets, most of the funds actually go towards salaries and compensation for families of persons killed in the line of duty.

According to the Global Terrorism Index 2012, of all the countries dealing with terrorism, Pakistan is the second most affected. Even basic statistics bear this out. Since 9/11 Pakistan has lost some 49,000 souls, and during the past five years 1,030 educational institutions have been targeted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Rough estimates put the losses incurred by our economy close to $100bn.

Despite the destruction, we have failed to modernise the police — even though terrorists and militants are constantly improving their methods and outreach. While terrorists’ financing is potentially unlimited, the police are dependent on the limited resources they are allocated, even if these are increased.

To illustrate the picture, here are a few figures. With a 1.82pc increase in allocation, the KP government allocated Rs23.78bn for its police including Rs19bn for salaries, Rs1bn for the purchase of hardware, Rs1bn for fuel and Rs1bn for compensation and utilities.

In Punjab, 177,000 policemen cater to a population of 100 million people. In Turkey, by comparison, 200,000 policemen are policing 60 million people. Turkey allocated $7.5bn for the police, while the Punjab police’s annual budget was $0.75bn.

It is imperative that it is understood that policing is more than merely the establishment of a police station and the recruitment of a few constables. The transformation of the thana culture needs generous financing, since poorly financed stations give birth to corrupt practices. To minimise corruption the financial needs of a police station have to be assessed and met.

Chapter X of the Police Rules of 1934 extensively details accounts’ matters but needs to be adapted to modern-day imperatives. The Police Order 2002 gave financial powers to inspectors general of the police. Article 10 of the legislation requires that the provincial police officer submit an “annual policing plan” to the provincial public safety commissions, mentioning the financial resources likely to be available during the year. But owing to ineffective safety commissions, this objective has yet to be achieved.

In Pakistan, law enforcement is financed at the federal and provincial levels. In some countries, though, the police also operate at the local level. With local bodies elections having been held in some places and fast approaching in others, district governments — which focus primarily on development work — need to focus on the police.

One of the countries that funds the police at the local level is the UK. There, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act was passed in 2011 and provides for police authorities to be replaced with directly elected police and crime commissioners.

The new commissioners are responsible for the allocation of the police budget and for deciding increases in local council taxes for the police. This initiative finances the police from revenue collected from local communities.

Recruitment is always the favoured solution in Pakistan as it serves many stakeholders. However, it increases the burden on the exchequer. During the last five years, the strength of the KP police has risen from 41,000 to 63,682. Meanwhile, during 2012, the province’s police registered 147,788 FIRs. The fact that Rs41.896m were spent on investigation means that just Rs 283 were spent on each case. With such meagre allocation, how can quality investigation be ensured?

A financial allocation formula needs to be introduced. Such allocations should either be on the basis of population density, or the incidence and nature of crime and terrorism in a given area. In developed countries, allocations are made on the basis of workload and minimum staffing approaches.

The transformation of the police as a service requires that cost of police operations be worked out and directly allocated to police stations. Currently, exclusive sums are not allocated directly for police station operations. Someone needs to consider what persons under custody are to be fed, calculate the actual cost of police mobility, the daily expenditure of a given police station, and so on.

The building of a positive image depends on financing, transparency and professionalism; therefore mere increases in funds or personnel may not yield dividends. A performance-based approach to staffing and allocation will guarantee the emergence of service-oriented police departments.

The writer is a deputy inspector general of the police. alibabakhel@hotmail.com