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NEED TO REVITALISE THE POLICE
The stereotyped style of functioning irrespective of merit, suitabilityto a given situation and options available makes the police functioninglargely mechanical and stripped of any intellectual or creative contentsin it, says Praveen Kumar In a disciplined organisation like the police where subordination and role playforma crucial psychological necessity, rigid inheritance of the style of functioning has become sine qua non in the vacuum of independent and creative thinking. This is theseed of the frigidity of the Indian Police set up. More dangerously, blind faith in theinherited style of functioning as the only way out to the exclusion of all other open alleysdeprive the Indian police of the richness of variety and growth opportunities whilecementing ranks and bringing a sense of unity and belongingness that create a sense of strength about the organisation in outsiders. The stereotype style of functioningirrespective of merit, suitability to a given situation and options available makes the police functioning largely mechanical and stripped of any intellectual or creative contentsin it. Any deviation from the beaten-path is considered with contempt and suspicion and birds of the same flock come together to bring the prevaricator to the required path. Untilthen, he is labeled and condemned as pout of the mainstream. That is why an imaginativeand creative soul newly entering the Indian Police feels absolutely stifled and either follows the flock at the cost of his convictions or just withers away fighting a loosing
 
and humiliating battle outside the mediocre mainstream. Winning such a battle to effecta couple of changes in the mental makeup of the giant organisation is an extremely rare phenomenon and not worth to an individual to have that try.These features bring distinct characteristics to the organisation. Indeed, the policehave people come from all walks of life with their distinct personal features and styles.But , once they enter the police organisation, the grind of the system takes its toll andcreates a common profile in its members. Though such a grind is common in many other organisations also, it is not as complete and clear as in the police. The process is notconsciously man-made and ergo incidental to the policing system. The standardisationso brought by the process has its own advantages and disadvantages. In case of the police, it appears that disadvantages as the standardised style of functioning cut throughthe growth process of the organisation in efficiency and excellence. It also grievouslydestablises dignity of the service and stifles professional values. There is inveterateservilitude in the style of functioning evolved in the police by this prices. This oftenexposes the police to gratuitous risks in performance of legitimate duties.
POLITICIAN- POLICE NEXUS
Adaptations to political masters as a bargain to secure key posts prove fatal to thedignity as well as professional values of the police set up. A Police officer of a state insouthern India succeeded in cornering the coveted post of police commissioner at theState capital a few years back with the support of a politician known in the then political2
 
 parlance as the ‘ Father, Mother’ of the state Chief Minister. A few days later, the politician in an inebriated state was arrested with his associates while fleeing in a car latenight after being involved in a sex scandal involving a budding film star. The policeofficial who affected the arrest recognised the identity of the person he had arrested onlyafter they were brought to the nearby police station in the city. The Police Commissioner was intimated about the developments. The Police Commissioner promptly made hisappearance in the police station in the night and ensured the immediate release of his political godfather. But, the political heavy weight in a temulent state was impeccable.He caught the collar of the Police Commissioner in front of the shocked subordinateofficials and shouted at the Police Commissioner in his inebriated voice asking himwhether he was made the Police Commissioner to arrest and bring him to the Policestation. The police Commissioner was seen meekly begging the politician to pardon him.The incident made headlines in news papers. The Police Commissioner later rose to become the Police Chief of the state and is now retired. Such incidents abound incircumstances of Police officers vying for coveted posts a tout prix and as a consequence,the dignity of the posts lowers and the professional qualities of the organisation suffer.An important reason at the derriere of this failing of the police lies in their generalinability at assessments. A rather queer characteristic of the police is its dithering as far as assessments in any form are concerned. It is an organisational failing in the policeand the police have found an easy way out of this failing –falling in line with the generaltrend and precedence sans application of mind. An officer once wrongly rapped as3
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