It is good to note that Police headquarters is going to formulate a new policy for posting of Officer-in-Charge (OC) across the country with a view to stopping a person holding the post of OC at the same station for longer time. In order to end such unethical and illegal practices, authorities concerned, of late, has decided to formulate and implement the new policy which will determine how long a police officer can stay in the post of OC. Indeed, such a bold step has been a long overdue in Bangladesh.
Experts are of opinion that if the new policy comes into action, none will have the opportunity to hold the post of OC for a protracted period. We hope, the new policy will open up various opportunities to reform the entire system associated with transfer of OCs.
We need to enact concrete organisational
reforms in the police force
We learnt that there may a realistic transfer and posting policy for members of the police force. It needs no emphasizing that those unscrupulous police officials who do not serve the cause of the people and engage themselves in dishonest activities should not be able to get a good position in their service. It is time to build a clean and transparent image of police before the general people. A sense of trust must be built between the police and general people of the country. This cannot be done when even a handful of officers indulge in violence as their first line of defense. Also we need to train every single officer to always behave in a respectful manner.
Besides improving competence of the police by assisting them with curriculum reform and modernising police training, in we need to enact concrete organisational reforms in the police force. Political appointments must end; merit alone must determine postings, transfers, recruitment and promotions. A force that is professionally run, well trained, adequately paid and operationally autonomous will best ensure the security of the public. Moreover successful police reform can only be sustained if it is linked to a policy that enforces the law fairly and effectively to protect individual rights and assure citizen security.
