The police are in disarray and need major reforms

In the fifteen years of the Awami League’s existence, approximately 120,000 people were recruited into the Bangladesh police. The allocation for the police increased by 433 percent during this period. Yet there was no effective initiative to turn the police into a professional force. Instead, over the past decade and a half, the police have been used to suppress the ruling party’s political opponents.

The organizational structure of the police has collapsed due to the Awami League’s excessive dependence on it. The police has reached such a fragile structure that it cannot play any effective role even a month and a half after the fall of Sheikh Hasina in a massive student uprising. Despite changes in every top position, including the Inspector General (IGP), the police have failed to emerge from the stupor. Now a massive overhaul of the police system has been demanded. A recommendation has been made to establish a Police Complaints Commission, in addition to the Police Commission, to investigate crimes committed by members of the force.

Some recommendations came during discussions with stakeholders, such as current and former police officers, experts and relevant organizations. They mainly came up with two types of recommendations. First, the police need a major overhaul of the system of transfer, promotion, recruitment, operation and other facilities. Secondly, a strong organizational structure is needed to make the police service-oriented and ensure accountability in all aspects such as cases and investigations, arrests and conducting raids. To this end, some laws and regulations relating to the police need to be updated.

Sources said manpower shortage, budget deficit and infrastructural constraints were once presented as the main reasons for the police’s inability to be professional. But this idea has changed over the past fifteen years. A total of 83,070 police posts were created during this period. A total of 178 posts were created in senior positions for BCS cadre officers. The majority of the 120,000 people were recruited based on political and partisan considerations.

According to the Public Security Department, police manpower last November was about 213,000.