“Police officers know that each time
they put on their uniform, they are taking on risks to protect others’… Mike Parson.
“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because some rough men with badge stand ready to face violence on their behalf.”... George Orwell.
Michael Lynn Parson is an American politician and former law enforcement officer &
Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic whose work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism and outspoken support of democratic socialism. Though going by the present scene, Orwell’s & Mike’s above words, many of our countrymen won’t agree with, as read any newspaper & most of the time men with the badge make for the wrong reasons only! Either the news is about police making innocent people victim or unnecessary use of muscle power while interrogation or some cop getting caught for accepting bribe for not filing FIR (a key word for policing i.e. first investigation report) & if not least then some constable’s suicide due to work pressure. Interesting isn’t it, as on one side police dept’s communication or dialogue with society (read common man) is hailed by most & on other side police dept is said to be under extreme work pressure (read political as well media pressure) as well less man-power & poor infrastructure which includes inadequate funding for police force to below-par infrastructure which includes basic needs like housing provisions! Something somewhere is going terribly wrong with police dept if not with men but the system we call police, isn’t it the outcome any wise man can make out from all such scenes? And it’s unfortunate that it’s the wise men which are most endangered species especially in the jungle named govt & on all such background we have got a new Director General of Police (read DG) which many believes is from the endangered species i.e. wise, level headed & straight forward (read under the line plz)!
Yes, I am referring to Mr. Sadanand Date, IPS , who has taken charge as new head of police force of our State where the Chief minister himself handles home dept which controls police force & that’s why work of police dept. is more under radar of the media as well from the society & yes, politicians too! Because, if in any classroom a particular subject of a particular class is being taught by Principal of the school, obviously all will expect the students must excel in that particular subject, same is the analogy at present with police dept, right? And maybe that’s why the present CM must have got this particular man as head of the class room & that's a big burden or responsibility, especially looking at the present status of the class (no offence, just sharing people’s opinion). And I thought to write or say share my views (read as expectations) to Hon DG sir as a businessman & more as a common citizen about the Khaki & I handle police committee at CREDAI (plz google) for last fifteen years, which is one added reason I have some exposure with khaki, rather much more than most people & I am sure all these people aren’t sorry for that, lol!
Dear DG Sir, first of all, a very Happy & Green new year to you & though our famous Bollywood movie dialogue says, “Policewalose, dosti bhi achhi nahi, na hi dushmani,” yet I have some good friends of which I am proud of, in Khaki & about later part, I have earned wisdom, enough not to rub law ever on the wrong side; is all I will say! Though your name is known to most of the people as a hero in 26 /11's Mumbai attack but very few know that with the tag of hero comes the burden of responsibility & that one has to bear individually only, even if you have a force under your command to follow your every word!
Sir, do you know what is the most basic & simple expectation of any citizen (read as law abiding citizen) from police; they just want a patient hearing from police more that getting justice & shooting criminals & for that they need to confide in the khaki that the wardi will listen to them, that confidence is missing at present, is a bitter fact, which I want to share with you! And this also I know (thanks to my many good frds in dept), the biggest challenge in front of police is our ever-growing population & disparity amongst this population as five percent people have everything & rest all have nothing, which is bound to raise the tendency of crime! And thanks to social media (and free net pack schemes) now every information is available to everybody, what’s latest shoe or watch, or car in the market & who is having it, it’s all on screen. Add in that showoff by the “we have latest” category rich & all this is bound to make those who don't have anything & have enough time at hand but no job. This is major problem for police force as gone are the days of organized crime, those guys have either surrendered or dead or moved to white collar crimes & it’s this young (minors in most cases) class who wants to become rich by using easiest means i.e. crime & this crime can’t be dealt with bullet or even danda ( a times yes) but by communication & awareness which also is a full time job & for that present police force is either insufficient or not trained properly is my blunt opinion! The old schools will be going to laugh & tag me as one more activist or socialist but I too am on other side of fifty & I too am a hard core old-schoolian but times have changed is a fact which if we ignore then we only will be facing the heat of it, rather we are already facing it!
Open any newspaper on any day & read the crime news, the professional criminals have switched to safer & polished crimes such as financial crimes or cyber-crimes but it’s the immature ones (minors) who are involved in physical assaults, even killings & bhaigiri, isn’t it a living proof of changed tendencies of crimes & the criminals, creating more challenges in-front of the police force? As the professional criminals are unseen & the unprofessional ones are on the surface & use of danda on them is going to only worsen their future as they think crime is the way to glory, a very tricky situation for the police force, this is! And on top of it our rulers (read as politicians) who are supposedly leading the society by their own behavior as well by making policies which will make the society law abiding but here also darkness is looming over the entire society! As it’s the so-called leaders (netas, karykartas or elected members) who drive with black glassed SUV’s, park them on any where they feel, break signal & run processions/ rallies without any permission blocking traffic, disturbing peace & common man watches all this mess helplessly while the younger genre watches this with admiration & thinks with such muscle power they are allowed to go above the law & for that crime, is the right school; this is real challenge for the police today! Here, in the Pune city, police are shamed for enforcing basic civic things like helmet wearing which is for own safety of the society but the political bosses warn police not to enforce it. At the same time if you want what society thinks about the law then do wait at any traffic signal & experience by yourself, from middle aged people to housewives to even grandparents, nobody follows signals & jumps red signal, in many cases even if a traffic warden is standing at the signal! By me this is a dangerous sign for any law enforcement system as this is a very basic thing showing the attitude of the entire society i.e. respecting traffic rules! Because, if they are blatantly breaking the traffic rules means given a choice, they will break any rule becoming party to crime & this is possible because either they don’t respect law or they know, nothing will happen even if they break the law, this attitude of the society is actually a warning sign for the entire Khaki, is what I wanted to share with you!
And then the youngsters joining police-force are also coming from this changed society only, so how can we expect respect for law from them as that’s not in their DNA any more, is my reason to write to you. And outcome is, those who follow law or want to live by law they are actually afraid to go to any police station as they think there is no use because police force is helpless & that’s why many people doesn’t even go to register a crime unless dire need is there for doing so is a sad fact which nobody accepts or turns a blind eye! On the other side, those who are criminals & must be afraid of the police, are no more afraid to go to the police station as they believe they can manage their way out today or tomorrow! I know, a police man’s job isn’t to decide who is guilty or not as that’s judiciary’s job but to help judicially to nab & punish the guilty is possible only with the support of police man & somehow common man doesn’t feel that the khaki is doing it right way or is fit enough to do that, whatsoever the reasons may be, this is the reason I wanted to write you! May it be a businessman having an industry or a paw bhaji stall person, today doing business here, in any form is difficult not because of the competition or govt policies but because of the lack of support from the law enforcement system which we call police & if you think I am lying, then you yourself can go on the street, speak with people (without revealing your identity) & check! If my words are wrong then forget this letter (if it reaches you in the first place, lol) but if you find it true, then your challenge has become tougher as I don’t expect change overnight but at least you can start from somewhere about it, is my reason to write to you. And because personnels like you are actually a form of Hope in your own way for the entire society & system! I understand the other side of the coin also, as poor infrastructure, inadequate salaries (in compare to the duty expected) from the police force & political interference are something not even the DGP can do anything alone but again, they will be there always & more, so you have to find a way which sure you will! Sir, Police are called as Force because of the power it has to do things which other departments or segments of society are not allowed, & ever power comes with responsibility (Spiderman) & here the responsibility is of millions of people who has only one power with them & that is power of home. This may sound dramatic but this is the fact as most people think this force named police either doesn’t exist or works only for a select few & they are stopping to believe in this force & that’s your biggest challenge i.e. making the masses to believe in the Police named Force!
To conclude, I will share something very personal memory, in my childhood days in a small town named Khamgaon in Vidarbha, when we used to see a constable which is lowermost link of the entire police force’s chain, we used to wave at him & shout with a salute “Police Kaka, Jay Hind” & the constable too used to return our salute smilingly by saying “Jay Hind,”! DGP Sir, I wish to see today’s kids also doing saluting thing for the constables on the road; as that saluting was not mere act of courtesy, it was act of affection, respect & love of the society, for the khaki, adios with this note! Needless to say, as an individual, & organization, will be happy to assist in any possible way if you feel & need, Jay Hind!
-
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
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