EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In modern society, no one can remain above law. All are to live their
lives within the boundaries of law. The police are no exception. The
duty of the police is to instill a sense of security in the ordinary
citizens, and to protect the life and property of the citizens when they
are in danger. If the police fail to perform this duty, they are held
accountable as per the law of the country. In Bangladesh too, there are
both internal and external mechanisms for holding the police
accountable. The internal mechanisms for holding individual police
officers accountable for their actions are contained in the Police Act of
1861. The external mechanisms for ensuring police accountability are
the judiciary, the Human Rights Commission, human rights NGOs, and
the media.
Unfortunately, in practice, the authority of police leadership in
Bangladesh has eroded over time by political interference, leading to a
loss of discipline in the force and the promotion of a tendency at
different levels within the police to seek outside patronage for rewards
and protection against punishment. There are also allegations that
police departments sometimes suppress incidents of misconduct by
individual police officers because the revelation of the facts could
damage the image of the police force. All these serve as the reasons
for decline in the effectiveness of departmental mechanisms to ensure
police accountability. Though the police authority always claims that
they do punish a good number of police officers each year for their
wrongdoings, people do not see any visible outcome of such internal
accountability mechanism. Day by day, the incidents of police brutality
and abuse of power are increasing.

General People's Perception Towards Police

Chapter
01
General People's Perception Towards Police

Introductio
n

General People's Perception Towards Police

INTRODUCTION
This report consist a scenario of General People's Perception
Towards Police. At the beginning, an overview of Bangladesh has
been given. This chapter contains detail about law and order, social
factors and crime in community in Bangladesh . After that come the
definition of perception and how an individual judge has been
discussed. Principles of modern policing, image of police etc. are also
described in this report.

1.1 Origin of the study

MBA is a professional degree. This degree includes theoretical
knowledge as well as practical knowledge. Making assignment is a part
of practical knowledge. An assignment is an attempt to provide
business students an orientation to use the knowledge in real life
business situation in which one can observe and evaluate the use and
applicability of the theoretical concepts, which were taught in class. To
have better understanding and finish the syllabus as a partial
requirement it is necessary to create a report.

1.2 Background of the study

Bangladesh Police is the main law enforcement agency of Bangladesh.
It is administered under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the
Government of Bangladesh. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace,
and enforcement of law and order within Bangladesh. Though the
police are primarily concerned with the maintenance of law and order
and security of persons and property of individuals, they also play a big
role in the criminal justice system.
The views that citizens have about the police are important. These
views can influence the degree and type of interaction people have
with the police and the degree of support provided to the police.
General People's Perception Towards Police

Without public support, modern policing is difficult, if not impossible.

Positive views of the police by citizens can lead to a positive
relationship with the police, which can improve the effectiveness of the
police. Negative views can lead to resentment, which can impede the
ability of the police to be effective formal agents of law and order.
Policing views are, therefore, important to explore and understand.
To complete this report, we took the knowledge from theoretical
classes and use that with information from an organization. And put
together both information to understand the management and analyze
the organization.

1.3 Purpose of the report

MBA is a modern subject, and assignment is a part of it. The first and
foremost important objective is to complete this report as a partial
requirement of MBA program.
The main purpose of this report is find out the general people's
perception towards police in Bangladesh. With this report the main
things we will get are:

Effectiveness of police force

Examination of public confidence in the police force
Trust in the police force and views of police civility
General police operations
Police accountability
Aggressive policing and
Support for the police

1.4 Scope of the report

The main scope of the study is to give a comprehensive idea about
police force in Bangladesh, their duties, responsibilities, their
achievements, their relationship with peoples and others etc.
General People's Perception Towards Police

1.5 Limitations of the study

Although the report is finished, but we faced several problems during
completion of this report. These are:
Time was short, to complete a proper original report.
Because of huge work load in professional life we didnt have
much time to research.
Informations are not comparatively in order, so not very easy to
understand.
Because of short time, a lot of things were escaped, for which,
report might look incomplete.
Because of their nature, information is not good for reliability and
very hard to find the proper information.
Some assumptions were made, which might reflect our own
opinion.

1.6 Methodology
Although the report is descriptive in nature, but the main body is based
on the organizations actual information which we got from their
employees. Sources we used to create this report are:

Direct interview of various personnel

Use of organizations Brochure & Leaf latest
Personal observation
Organizations website
Several text books
Internet resources etc

General People's Perception Towards Police

General People's Perception Towards Police

Chapter
02
Overview
General People's Perception Towards Police

2.1 Beautiful Bangladesh

Bangladesh, which literally translates to country/land of Bengal, is a
nation in South Asia with an estimated population of more than 168
million people living in an area the size of Iowa. It is the eighth most
densely populated nation. Approximately 89% of the population is
Muslim, with the vast majority being Sunni, making Bangladesh the
third largest Muslim nation and the second most populous Sunni
country. The population of Bangladesh is largely ethnically
homogeneous, with 98% being Bengali. The Bangladesh population is
largely young, poor, and rural. Almost 50% of the population lives on
one U.S. dollar or less a day. The area of Bangladesh has a long, rich
human history dating back thousands and thousands of years. In the
middle 1700s, the area became part of British India. When India gained
independence in 1947, the Bangladesh area became part of Pakistan,
and then became East Pakistan in 1955. After a bloody conflict, it
became an independent nation in 1971. While there have been four
military coups since independence, Bangladesh is currently a
democratic nation. It has a secular unicameral parliamentary form of
government and is governed by two major political parties, the
Bangladesh Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Its
capital is Dhaka.

2.2 Law and order in Bangladesh

In the past 20 years, there has been an increase in crime, especially
violent crime, and a breakdown of law in Bangladesh. In the 10 years
an increase in the rate from 78 to 87 crimes per 100,000 citizens. Just
four years later, by 2010, over 162,000 crimes were reported to the
police, a rate of 110 per 100,000 citizens. It is important to note that
underreporting of crime is common in Bangladesh, particularly for
property crimes. It is estimated that about 15,000 children and women
are victims of human trafficking each year. Organized robbery gangs
are common. Parts of Bangladesh are described as being lawless.
Additionally, there has been an increase in terrorist activity by militant
Islamic groups in Bangladesh. For example, on August 17, 2005, 450
General People's Perception Towards Police

bombs aimed at government buildings were set off by Jamaatul

Mujahideen, an Islamist extremist terrorist group. Hundreds of
Bangladeshis have been killed in terrorist attacks in the past decade.
While there has been a rise in crime and terrorism, the use of
incarceration is low. Bangladesh has an incarceration rate of 42 per
100,000.

2.3 Social Factors & Crime in Community

The crime in a community has a relationship with different factors of
that community. The social, economic and other relevant factors
regulate the increase and decrease of crime. According to Greene, a
sociologist, The relationship between crime and disorder in
community is complicated by many factors. Poverty, inequality, social
injustice, unemployment, decay of social and moral values, lack of
family bonds, density of people and racial conflicts escalate the crime
situation in the society.
The police have little scope to directly regulate these community crime
factors. The community, government agencies, NGOs and private
social development organizations associated with these factors such as
education, housing, job training, family support, health care, drug
control, etc. can play important role to affect the crime factors. Here
the police can extend their hand of co-operation as a promoter.
Seville developed a theory called ecology of crime. It explains how
criminal opportunities are created in neighborhoods. According to
ecology of crime theory, every neighborhood has a crime
threshold. It means every neighborhood has the capacity to hold a
certain number of disorders and crime factors. When the number of
these things exceeds the threshold or limit of carrying capacity, the
total social system and social control collapses. The society turns into a
place of hell and citizens are pushed in uncertainty, insecurity and
chaos. The quality of life of the citizens degrades.
The community leaders and citizens need to understand when the
neighborhoods are approaching the threshold in a given situation in
order to prevent the disaster. Police alone cannot prevent the crime
General People's Perception Towards Police

10

factors marching towards the "threshold". All individuals and entities of

the society consciously must take this responsibility. Police will
constantly be with them as facilitators.

2.4 Crime Rate in Bangladesh

Level of crime

71.
19
Crime increasing in the past 3 years
72.
03
Home broken and things stolen
66.
95
Being mugged or robbed
66.
23
Car stolen
58.
19
Things from car stolen
56.
36
Attacked
57.
89
Being insulted
54.
02
Being subject to a physical attack because of skin 40.
color, ethnic origin or religion
68
Using or dealing drugs
65.
79
Property crimes such as vandalism and theft
68.
97
Violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery
64.
22
Corruption and bribery
84.
26

General People's Perception Towards Police

High
High
High
High
Modera
te
Modera
te
Modera
te
Modera
te
Modera
te
High
High
High
Very
High

11

2.5 Safety in Bangladesh

Safety walking alone during daylight
Safety walking alone during night

General People's Perception Towards Police

46.5
5
27.9
7

Modera
te
Low

12

Chapter 03
Perception
toward Police

General People's Perception Towards Police

13

3.1 What is Perception?

A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory
impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

3.1.1Why is it Important?
Because peoples behavior is based on their perception of what reality
is, not on reality itself. The world that is perceived is the world that is
behaviorally important.

3.1.2Attribution Theory
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Selective Perception: People selectively interpret what they
see on the basis of their interest, background, experience, and
attitudes.
Halo Effect: Drawing a general impression about an individual
on the basis of a single characteristic.
Contrast Effects: Evaluations of a persons characteristics that
are affected by comparisons with other people recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics.
Projection: Attributing ones own characteristics to other people
Stereotyping:
Judging someone on the basis
perception of the group to which that person belongs.

General People's Perception Towards Police

of

ones

14

3.2 Police
The police are those who are the members of a government
organization which is responsible for enforcing law and maintaining
peace and order, prevention and detection of crime. The Police are one
of major components of criminal justice system.

3.2.1Duties of Police
1.
2.
3.
4.

Arrest offenders.
Prevent crime.
Solve ongoing problems and
Improve the overall quality of live etc.

3.2.2Principles of Modern Policing

Prevention and detection of crime

Protection of life and property of the citizens through enforcement of law
Preservation of peace, order and safety
Enforcement of laws and ordinances
Safeguarding of constitutional guarantees
Investigating problems and incidents
Enhancement of the quality of life of the citizens by fostering a sense of

security in communities and individuals

The power of the police to fulfill their duties is dependent on public approval
and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.
Public respect and approval also mean the willing co-operation of the public.
Seek and preserve public favor not by pursuing but by demonstrating
impartial service to the people and the law.
Maintain a relationship with the public that gives belief that the police are the
public and the public are the police.

General People's Perception Towards Police

15

3.3Image of Police
The police image entails the general views and impression of the
citizens about police. It also refers the evaluation and acceptance of
police action and police behavior by the people. In most of the
countries of the world specially in the under developed and developing
countries the police image is very frustrating. People hold negative
views about police and there exists a distance in the relationship
between police and public. In the Indian subcontinent including
Bangladesh the police are not in good book of the common people. The
common people have the tendency to avoid police. In very few cases
police get co-operation from the members of public.
Media describes police as evasive, non-cooperative, non-trusting, selfimportant, indifferent, withholding, unfair, arrogant, wrong-doers,
repressive force and violator of law and human rights. The pressmen
need to get information from law enforcement in a timely manner to
keep the public informed. They tend to get early and secret
information. The pressmen argue that the public has the right to know
the happenings whether overt and covert. It is the duty of the media to
keep them informed about the happenings of the society and also what
law enforcing agencies are doing. They opined that media is the
connection between police and public. They comment that sometimes
they are under major time crunch and they need immediate
information from law enforcement to meet up the people's demand
and expectation. But they do not get desired cooperation from the
police. The police officers are always evasive. They avoid press to give
information. Sometimes police do not like to talk to the press to avoid
the responsibility for giving information of any incident. Police have
little trust on the press. They have a tendency to think themselves very
powerful in the society and are reluctant to care others. The noncooperation of police put the press in difficulty to collect information
about crime, crime related incidents, etc. to bring those to the citizens
of the country.
An unfavorable picture is often painted of the Bangladesh police. The
police are not seen as friends or partners with the community. It is
General People's Perception Towards Police

16

alleged that the police will often harass and intimidate ordinary, lawabiding citizens. The police are seen as ineffective in dealing with
crime and disorder. Lawlessness is a common phenomenon that
Bangladeshi people live with every day. Larceny, highjack, robbery,
burglary, arson, damage of private and public property, fight over
property and political power, murder (including political), and rape are
a few of different types of crime that Bangladeshi people experience
on an everyday basis.
The equipment of the Bangladeshi police is outdated and training of
officers is rarely done, which hinders the effectiveness of the police.
The Bangladeshi police have been criticized for being overly controlled
by politicians. The police have often been described as protecting the
interests of those with power, particularly those in control of the
government.
Ordinary Bangladeshis believe the cops are only lackeys in a system
in which the chief criminal beneficiaries are a handful of powerful gang
lords with important political connections. Police are also seen as
being complicit in the ruling partys efforts to suppress the political
opposition. Islam and Ali contended that experience shows that the
police were openly used by the ruling parties at different times after
independence of the country. Furthermore, the police are viewed as
being corrupt. In order to report a crime, many victims are required to
pay a bribe to the police an average of TK-2000.
While corruption is common in Bangladesh, the police are seen as one
of the most corrupt social institutions in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh
police are also accused of using excessive force and engaging in
abuse. Extra-judicial killings do occur by the police. For example, the
Rapid Action Battalion, formed in 2003 to deal with serious crime and
terrorism, has been accused of being involved in over 600 extrajudicial killings. This force has also been accused of widespread human
right violations and torture.
The regular Bangladesh police are also alleged to engage in torture,
include severe injuries and death to those detained. Often those
tortured are members of the opposing political party and include those
with a college degree and university students While their time in police
custody tends to be short (1 to 3 days), the injuries of some of those
General People's Perception Towards Police

17

detained by the police are serious, and are often in need of acute
medical treatment afterwards. Many Bangladeshi people even fear
the police.
While there are problems, there have been efforts to reform the police.
In the past decade, there have been efforts to improve the relationship
and interactions between the Bangladeshi police and citizens. An anticorruption commission was recently formed to address corruption,
including by the police. Nevertheless, much more work is needed. In a
survey of people who had interacted with the police in Dhaka, the
capital city, most did not have positive views of the police nor felt that
the police had the best interests of the residents at heart. Finally,
surveyed Bangladeshi college students reported low trust in the police
and felt that in general the police did not treat everyone with respect.

3.4Reasons for negative police image

Various factors are responsible for tarnishing the image of police.
Following reasons or factors are identified for image crises of police:

3.4.1 Traditional attitude of police

The police hold traditional attitude inherited from the colonial regime.
They could not reset their mind set up fully to suit the democratic
norms and values. The traditional attitude of the police is the barrier to
introduce people oriented and community based policing. This is why
police image is not getting uplift from the crisis state.

3.4.2Gap between police and public

There exists gap between police and public for which mutual
understanding is not being established between police and public. This
gap is the main reason for image crisis of police.

3.4.3Non-fulfillment of public expectation

People like to see police as honest, fair, neutral, courageous and
prompt in action. They also expect well-behavior and friendly attitude
from the members of law enforcing agency. But police, in practical life,
General People's Perception Towards Police

18

are not seen to act or expose themselves as per expectation of the

citizens. The gap between the expectation and reality, as regards to
police push the police image to the lower level.

3.4.4Police Misconduct
Police misconduct is a broad term referring to a variety of unethical,
illegal and unbecoming behaviors by police towards the citizens. Very
often the police do not behave properly with the people when people
rush to police being victimized to hostile situation or incidents. An
individual may carry out the misconduct, but it tarnishes the image of
total police department.

3.4.5Police Brutality
Sometimes the police use unreasonable and excessive force over the
arrested persons or members of an unlawful assembly. They use force
in a brutal way that touches the heart of the common people. This
brutality of police spoils the police image.

3.4.6 Abuse of Power and Harassment

Police have tremendous power over the citizens they serve and
protect. They are supposed to exercise this power fairly and neutrally
in good faith for the interest of the public. But police sometimes misuse
their power. They arrest people illegally, stop vehicles for search
unnecessarily; implicate innocent people in criminal cases etc. People
are afraid of police harassment.

3.4.7Police corruption
Police corruption entails various types of illegal activities by police to
receive something of value in cost or kind in lieu of giving somebody
any illegal benefit or omitting some lawful action against anybody. It
can range from taking Tk 20 by a traffic police to a bribe of thousands
of Taka to permit a smuggler to bring smuggled goods inside the
country.
Since inception, corruption in law enforcement has been a problem. A
small unethical act of an individual may lead to a major crime. Police
exercise ample power. Most of the time they can do whatever they
General People's Perception Towards Police

19

want without having to answer to the public or anybody else.

Sometimes this power is abused by a section of police for which fear
of police is there in the society. People have dissatisfaction on police
attitude. Fear of police and dissatisfaction of the people on police have
created a significant gap between police and public.

3.4.8Partisan Role
Sometimes police do not act impartially. Being influenced by vested
quarters or for personal gain police play a partisan role in their action.
People lose confidence on police. Thus police earn a bad name.

3.4.9Bad Association
Some police officers keep in touch of people who are questionable in
the eyes of the people. A section of police officers maintain relationship
with political touts and activists, smugglers or bad but influential
people. People do not like the persons of this nature. Police image
diminished following the connection with persons of questionable
nature and activity.

3.4.10Involving in Crime
Sometimes members of law enforcing agency involve themselves in
various type of crimes. Even the individual involvement in crime by
police severely hampers the image of police.

3.4.11Media Coverage
Media has an enormous impact on public opinion. Police image is
affected by the manner in which television and newspapers present
crime stories and law enforcement activities. Media often bring up
report on police matter exaggerating the facts that affects the police
image.

3.4.12External interference in Police works

The political force and pressure groups very frequently interfere in
police works. They use police for their own interest violating existing
rules and ethics. Police officers sometimes willingly or unwillingly serve
General People's Perception Towards Police

20

the purpose of those vested groups for their personal safety and to
keep them free from possible risk and confrontation. Thus, police
image goes down in the eyes of the citizens.

3.4.13Police Discretion
Police have awesome power to use force, to lock people up and even to
take some one's life. Police have broad discretionary powers. Discretion
may be defined as follows:
Discretion means the freedom of making a decision based on
individual choice or judgment and a number of factors. These factors
include law and regulations, procedures and guidelines of an
organization, personal values and beliefs and also the norms and
values of the respective area and citizens of that area. The discretion
gives police too much freedom to pick and choose when and against
whom they will enforce the law. Citizens are aware of this discretion of
police. At the same time, they have doubt over police whether police
will exercise their discretion judiciously and neutrally or they will abuse
the discretion and they will overlook the violations of law of the
wealthy and powerful people.

3.5Major problem's of Bangladesh Police

Existing police structure and the laws relating to policing were
established by the British rulers and these require comprehensive
review. Our police owed its creation to the Police Act, 1861,
principal purpose of which was to maintain the status quo. The
Act puts major emphasis on maintenance of order. Rather than
putting importance on the professional aspect of crime control,
the Act overemphasizes on the constabulary functions of the
police.
The police of lower echelon constitute majority of police force.
But they, particularly the constables, Nayeks and low ranking
police officers, do not possess substantial educational and
intellectual attainments. Their treatment and exposure to the
general people is very arrogant and frightening
General People's Perception Towards Police

21

 Salary given to the police officers and constables is insufficient.

Police officers and constables work 13-18 hours a day, which is
almost double than the working hours of the government
employees of other professions. On an average officer in charge
(O.C.) of a metropolitan police station works 18 hours a day, an
O.C. of district and thana level works 15 hours (TIB, 2004). But
their salary is not sufficient to their serving 13-18 hours. Though
they serve extra hours, but they do not get any remuneration for
that (TIB, 2004).
Police is always confronted with the problem of inadequate
logistic support. On an average 5-6 police staffs sit in each room
of a police station. In most of the police stations there is no room
for conference or meeting. Police stations of districts and thanas
have no prison van. The toilet facilities of police stations are
insufficient. The police stations are not provided with sufficient
number of vehicles and necessary furniture. Police officials
require modern and light arms for expected crime control, but
they are not sufficiently armed.
There are allegations that police has been politically used by
successive governments which create major obstacles to develop
professionalism in police.
Police organization of Bangladesh suffers from insufficient
accountability, both internal and external. Internal accountability
can enhance competence, and prevent corruption, whereas
external accountability can ensure people-oriented service.

3.6Police analyzed public satisfaction about their

Performance

General People's Perception Towards Police

22

Research has indicated that public confidence in the police is broad

and may be increasing and that most people consider police
performance to be at least moderate (74.6 percent).This level of public
satisfaction is similar across specific services (figure 2). However, only
a very small percentage (2.9 percent) considers police performance to
be very good. Additionally, only half (49.5 percent) of those who
reported a crime to the police said that they were satisfied with the
police investigation and rendered.

3.7The view on Bangladeshi Police among Students

Note. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. SD = Strongly
Disagree, D = Disagree, U = Uncertain, A = Agree, and SA = Strongly
Agree. SDev stands for standard deviation. RC stands for reverse coded
(percentages reported here reflect being reverse coded). There were
258Bangladeshi participants.

Confidence in Police
The police know what is best
for my community

S
D

D U A

S
A

Mea
n

2.94 1.0
7

General People's Perception Towards Police

SD

23

 Police know what is best for

people
Police knowhow to best respond
to crime
Trust in Police
I trust the police
Police Civility
Police are Generally friendly
Police generally treat everyone
the same in my community

9
5

3
3

1
1

3
3

1
0
1
0

3.07
3.23 0.9
6
0.9
9

2
6

2.42 1.1
8

2
5

2.31 1.2
5

2.39

2
9
Police Should Be Civil
The police should show respect
to those they meet
Police Work Hard
Police in my Community work
hard
Effectiveness of Police
Police generally have little
impact in the amount of crime
in my community (RC)
Criminal shave little fear of the
police (RC)

1.1
2

2
3

3.75 1.0
5

2
7

2.26 1.0
9

1
2

3.09 1.0
3
2.79
1.0
2

2
2

4.01 0.7
3

2.51 1.0
7

1
1

3.05

1
2

Should Have Police Input

The Community should have 1
input on how the police operate
Police Actual Input
In my community ,the police 1
frequently ask residents to 4
provide ideas on how to best
respond to crime
The
police generally attend 1
and
participate
in
local
0
community meeting

General People's Perception Towards Police

1.2
2
24

Police Accountability
There should be greater control 1
of the police
by community
citizens
1
Police should be account able
for their actions
Aggressive Policing
Excessive Police scrutiny
is 3
necessary to fight crime
Frequents tops by the police in 5
the community is necessary to
reduce crime
Police Support
People in the Community should 6
always support the police

1
0
5
4

3
1

3.62 0.8
8
4.04
0.8
1

1
6

4.00 0.9
9
3.66
1.0
0

1
3

3.28 1.1
4

Students usually represent the highest socioeconomic status groups in

a society, especially so in Bangladesh. This study shows that students
(university) have quite low levels of confidence in police and
unfavorable evaluations of various police performance areas, including
civility and fairness, working ethic, effectiveness, and efforts in
seeking community input. Fewer than half of the participants agreed
that the police know what is best for their community.
21% participants thought that the police generally treated everyone
the same in their community. 16% participants believed that the
police in their community work hard. 24% participants believed that
the police generally have little impact in the amount of crime in their
community. The students have significantly lower levels of trust in
police and students have also held significantly lower levels of
satisfaction with police friendliness, industriousness, and effectiveness
on crime. Students expressed higher levels of confidence in police.
Students have high expectations that the police know how to best
respond to crime yet fail to do so, they become even more
disappointed and distrustful of the police. Students emphasize police
accountability and endorse aggressive policing more. Facing escalating
crime problems and a police force with problems of corruption and
other abuse of power, a strong desire for enhancing police
General People's Perception Towards Police

25

accountability seems most natural for students. Women have

especially low levels of satisfaction with the police, as was found in
this study.

Chapter
04
Conclusion
General People's Perception Towards Police

26

General People's Perception Towards Police

27

CONCLUSION
4.1 Key Challenges
Law and Order
Situation:

People seem to have highly divided opinion about

the overall law and order situation during last two
years blaming political unrest and conflict for not
much
improvement of the situation.

Crime Situation
& Reporting
Crime:

Overall people appear reluctant to approach the

police when faced with crimes of whatever nature.
While much of the crime reportedly relates to
personal property disputes, the perception of
police negligence, malpractices and overall
inefficiency contribute to the reluctance.

Service Quality
at Thana level:

Perceived difficulty in obtaining service also

dissuades people from reporting crimes. Service
delivery is hampered by police having to face
undue influence and
external pressure from political and official
sources. Inadequate number of women police at
the Thana level impedes services to women and
children. Vulnerable groups find it difficult to
obtain proper service. These perceptions add to
the overall opinion that levels of service and
police performance as regards crime is generally
low.

Awareness
about various
initiatives of
Service Delivery

There is not much awareness among general

public about various initiatives under PRP such as
Victim Support Centers (VSC) and Community
Policing (CP) and the services they can avail from
the police and Model Thana.
People are consequently less likely to seek
support from such initiatives in times of need or
General People's Perception Towards Police

28

Police Reform
Program

when faced with crimes.

Most people have scant or no knowledge of the
PRP and its objectives. Awareness of Model Thana
and the improved service facilities available is also
very low. This would appear to be a singular
shortcoming that the program has not been able
to overcome.

4.2 Recommendation
1. New Police Act : Our police owed its creation to the Police Act,
1861. The Act puts major emphasis on maintenance of order.
Rather than putting importance on the professional aspect of
crime control. We require a new Police Act, which will focus
professional aspect of crime control and clearly define police role
and responsibility. The new Act needs to ensure police
professionalism, accountability and modern police management,
the proper functioning of which seeks to improve human security
and access to justice.
2. Improvement of the law and order :If changes for the better
are to be effected and the police be made to perform as the true
guardians of law and order, political organizations must be
brought on board and made to commit to support efforts as
required for the improvement of the law and order situation and
ensuring safety, access to justice and human rights for the
people. This will require a top level commitment from many
actors including the police and the necessary work must be done
in this regard.
3. Reform: Police need to develop and actively pursue a more
people friendly work ethic. Responsiveness (promptness and
attentiveness) in addressing complaints should be increased.
More support should be given to vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups. Developing adequacy in police strength should be made
General People's Perception Towards Police

29

a real consideration particularly in increasing the number of

women police at Thanas.
4. Citizens input: Citizens voluntary participation with necessary
suggestion, advice and evaluation is essential.
5. Positive role of police: Police must be sincere and active with
their broadened function to run and implement the plan and
principles of policing. They shall have expanding responsibility in
maintenance of law and order, prevention of crime and providing
social services to the people with the collaboration of the people.
With the help of the people of police will make all out efforts to
protect and enhance the quality of life of the most vulnerable
citizens like juveniles, children, women, elderly people,
minorities, disabled, poor and homeless people.
6. Tailored Policing: Police will provide personal services to the
individuals on the basis of their needs and the function of police
is to be based on need assessment giving due regards to local
norms and values.
7. Geographic focus: Officers must focus on specific geographical
area. They are given permanent or long term assignments in a
particular area so that they can know the citizens within their
area for effective mutual co-operation to deal crime and
maintenance of order.
8. Positive Interaction: Interaction with the community is one of
the important elements of policing. Instead of sitting in the office
to receive complaint or patrolling by car, the officers are to get
out from their office and vehicles and initiate positive interactions
with the citizens in their area of responsibility to have public
views and suggestion about ongoing policing, local problems and
changes in policing, if required.
9. Partnership: Partnership between police and community is an
important element of policing. Police work on partnership basis
with the members of communities, local elites, professional
General People's Perception Towards Police

30

groups, organizations, agencies and other components of the

society to solve the key problems.
10.
Problem solving approach: Identifying the problems,
police with the collaboration of the community launch
programmers to solve the problems at the beginning. Community
policing does not allow any minor problem to turn into large and
complicated one.
11.
Proactive role: Proactive role is the main philosophy of
community policing. In policing system police with the
collaboration of the community take various awareness building,
education and motivational programmers for the people specially
the vulnerable population with a view to create awareness of
crime and social vices to save them from those. Policing works on
the principle prevention is better than cure.

4.3 Conclusion
Police are not the only component in the criminal justice system to
exercise discretion. Prosecutors exercise discretion when determining
priorities for prosecution. Judges exercise discretion while hearing or
giving verdict. All other officials or agencies exercise discretion while
performing their duties in their respective fields. Police have to follow a
lot of laws, rules, regulations and bureaucratic procedures in their
action. Rules and regulations limit an officer's ability to use common
sense or act in a humane way in certain situations. This is why
discretion for police is necessary. There are some archaic or ambiguous
or dead laws. Citizens do not expect those laws to be enforced. There
are not enough police to act on every violation of law. So, there should
have discretion for police. Police select which laws need to be enforced.
Police should have scope to priorities the offences they act upon.
Crime is more concern than violation of rules and serious crime is a
greater threat than minor crime. Keeping it in mind the police act
General People's Perception Towards Police

31

accordingly. Discretion is important to maintain good community

relations. If police were to enforce the letter of the law, community
resentment will arise.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.en.wikipedia.com
www.bing.com
www.academia.com
www.answers.com
www.investopedia.com
www.scribd.com
www.boundless.com
www.wiki.answers.com
www.slideshare.net
www.kaagoj.com
www.assignmentpoint.com
www.csus.edu
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32

 www.gsdl.easternuni.edu.bd
www.researchgate.net
www.calea.org

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33

THANK
YOU

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34