Foolishly flashing forces

The police has recently been equipped with brand new 1000 and 1300 cc cars with the latest digital sirens

Syed Ali July 15, 2010
This is the message the Karachi police appears to be giving the people of the city:
"If you are a mobile phone/purse snatcher, target killer, car jacker or have just been waiting for the right time to rob an ATM beware! You will be able to see me coming. By the time I close in, you are welcome to run away, hide in a crowd or just wait for me to drive by. Once I am out of sight you can commit a crime. We do not surprise offenders"

The police has recently been equipped with brand new 1000 and 1300 cc cars with the latest digital sirens, installed with bright, high quality flashers for the first time. Occupied with four police officers each, the vehicles look elegant and could make you feel proud of your force. You may not even mind  being pulled over for a violation, where you would remain in your car and the officer after stopping would walk up say "Licence and registration, please."

Traditionally the vehicle for the  Karachi police, the Eagle Squad or Muhafiz force, was the Hilux with its dim  revolving single bulb bluelight and 6 to 8 officers at one time. The City Police Department were given Corolla and Altos to meet international standards.

But what use are these cars when officers do not know the standard operating procedure of a police car? As dawn sets, police vehicles present at intersections, shopping malls or simply patrolling the streets turn on their flashing lights remain on until the vehicle and its officers have completed their duty. They will patrol your streets with sirens and lights on, breaching the peace of residents without remorse.

Developing a system does not cost much, but foolishly flashing away does cost the whole force its recognition and reputation. Those managing the force should be trained to inculcate a sense of responsibility in the staff. This force can be reformed by applying systems properly.

Police procedures need to improve but we need to change too. Hardly, anybody follows traffic rules. To mention a few we do not use indicators before changing lanes, we drive with full beams blinding the other drivers, instead of waiting at a red light we slow down and go when the signal changes - because we know there are others like us out there. We honk at everything in sight and pfft! who cares about seatbelts.

We need to become an honest society - even if our parents originally hid our real age for kindergarten registration (so now our national ID card and passport may be off by a year or five). Can we?
WRITTEN BY:
Syed Ali A businessman who writes on politics and civic issues. He completed his masters in business administration from Boston University. He tweets @abidifactor.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (7)

Yasser | 13 years ago | Reply intellectual writing. i hope someone from the police department reading this
Gulkhaiz | 13 years ago | Reply @S.Ali Raza. National institutions are reflection of our society.Therefore we may dream of any thing, but institutions will not change until we all change our attitudes and make positive contributions in changing them. Yes you are right that our police should be trained to achieve its objectives, at par with international standards
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ