Page 56 - EducationWorld January 2021

Special Report

POLICE EDUCATION & TRAINING

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

The persistent failure of police personnel countrywide to rise to bad
occasions and discharge their duties with minimal competence has
raised disturbing questions about police recruitment, education and
training. Numerous police reform commissions and committee reports
are gathering dust in government offices

Dilip Bobb

T HE PREDOMINANT IMAGE OF 21ST rock-bottom policing and investigative skills of the men in

khaki have shown up in every major communal riot — Delhi
century India’s 2.8-million police
(1984), Gujarat (2002) — and more recently in the Aarushi
force is not of a citizen-friendly
Talwar murder case in Delhi in 2008, and the tragic Su-
keeper of public peace and order.
shant Singh Rajput suicide in Mumbai last year.
The stereotypical image depicted in
the media is of khaki-clad consta-
The persistent failure of po-
bles raining lathi blows on malnu-
tritioned, and even elderly citizens. lice personnel countrywide to
rise to bad occasions and dis-
In recent months, this image has charge their duties with minimal
been reinforced after the tragic events in Hathras (Uttar competence has raised disturb-
Pradesh), over the brutal gang rape of a Dalit girl last Sep- ing questions about police re-
tember and clumsy cover-up attempts by the police, includ- cruitment, education and train-
ing senior officers. Before that, the Delhi Police was heavily ing. “Many of the principles and
criticised for its inept handling of the February 2020 riots practices employed in our police
in the capital’s north-east district. The police’s pathetic in- academies are reminiscent of the Vinay Kaura
ability to restore peace in the riot-affected areas was exco- traditional model of police train-
riated by numerous public intellectuals and retired police ing which was largely drill-based. Police personnel of all
officers. The 17,000-page charge-sheet, yet to be filed but ranks need to be engaged in a continual re-examination of
leaked to the media, has one constable as a witness against their roles. This cannot be achieved unless police leadership
seven accused. The report makes the impossible claim that incorporates the latest concepts and practices in subjects
the constable was able to identify the seven accused at dif- as varied as criminology, sociology, cyber security, terror-
ferent locations — all on the same day. ism, criminal justice jurisprudence and organisational be-
These are only two recent examples of glaring ineptitude haviour,” wrote Vinay Kaura, assistant professor at the
and lapses in police functioning. Since independence, the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the Sardar Patel

56 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2021