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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
Before independence, the security forces of British
India
were primarily concerned with the maintenance of law and
order
but were also called on to perform duties in support of
the
political interests of the government. The duties of the
police
officer in a formal sense were those of police the world
over:
executing orders and warrants; collecting and
communicating
upward intelligence concerning public order; preventing
crime;
and detecting, apprehending, and arresting criminals.
These
duties were specified in Article 23 of the Indian Police
Act of
1861, which (together with revisions dating from 1888 and
the
Police Rules of 1934), is still the basic document for
police
activity in Pakistan.
The overall organization of the police forces remained
much
the same after partition. Except for centrally
administered
territories and tribal territories in the north and
northwest,
basic law and order responsibilities have been carried out
by the
four provincial governments. The central government has
controlled a series of specialized police agencies,
including the
Federal Investigative Agency, railroad and airport police
forces,
an anticorruption task force, and various paramilitary
organizations such as the Rangers, constabulary forces,
and the
Frontier Corps. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto established the
Federal
Security Force and gave it wide-ranging powers, but the
force was
abolished when the military regime of Zia ul-Haq seized
power in
1977.
Under the constitution, criminal law and procedure are
listed
as subjects that are the concurrent responsibility of the
central
and provincial governments. The federal government,
however, has
extensive power to assert its primacy, especially in any
matter
relating to national security. The police forces of the
four
provinces are independent, and there is no nationwide
integration; nevertheless, the federal minister of the
interior
provides overall supervision.
Senior positions in the police are filled from the
Police
Service of Pakistan (PSP). The Police Service of Pakistan
is not
an operational body; rather, it is a career service
similar to
the Civil Service of Pakistan, from which officers are
assigned
to the provincial services or, on rotation, to central
government
agencies where their skills are needed. Recruitment to the
PSP is
through an annual national examination that is common for
several
centrally recruited services, including the civil service
and the
foreign and the customs services. Because the PSP is a
relatively
well-paid and powerful service, it attracts students who
rank
highest in the selection process. Successful candidates
receive
two years of training at the Police Training College in
Sihala,
near Islamabad, and are then assigned to duty with one of
the
provincial forces.
The PSP is overwhelmingly male in composition, but the
October 1993 return of Benazir Bhutto to power may
introduce some
bold changes. In January 1994, Benazir announced the
opening of
Pakistan's first all-female police station. About fifty
female
officers of the Rawalapindi police station will supplement
Punjab's provincial police force of 85,000 men. As part of
her
campaign for equal rights for women, Benazir also promised
to
place women in 10 percent of top police posts, to appoint
women
to the Supreme Court, and to establish special courts for
cases
against women.
The senior officer ranks in the police service are the
inspector general, who heads a provincial police force,
and a
deputy inspector general, who directs the work of a
division or
"range," which coordinates police work within various
parts of a
province. There are also assistant inspectors general in
each
province. The principal focus of police activity is at the
district level, which is headed by a superintendent, and
the
subdistrict level, usually under the direction of an
assistant or
deputy superintendent. The latter is not necessarily drawn
from
the Police Service of Pakistan. At each level, police
officials
report to the political or civil service heads of the
respective
administrative level; the inspectors general, however,
have
direct links to the federal Ministry of Interior. Larger
municipalities have their own police forces, but these are
responsible to the provincial structure of police
authority.
The great majority of police personnel are assigned to
subdistricts and police stations and are not at the
officer
level. Their ranks are inspector, sergeant, subinspector,
assistant subinspector, head constable, and constable. As
one
descends the rank hierarchy, education levels, skills, and
motivation decrease precipitously--even dramatically at
the lower
levels. Although constables are supposed to have a modest
amount
of education, they are paid only the wages of an unskilled
laborer (about US$40 per month), and a head constable--the
height
of aspiration for many policemen--is paid only at the
level of a
semiskilled worker.
Police in Pakistan are generally unarmed. For crowd
control,
police are trained to use a lathi, a five-foot
wooden
staff that may be weighted. Lathi are used either
to hold
crowds back or as clubs. Tear gas and firearms are
available, and
police formations hunting down armed bands of robbers, or
dacoits, have adequate firepower available.
Data as of April 1994
Role and Structure of the Security Forces
Before independence, the security forces of British
India
were primarily concerned with the maintenance of law and
order
but were also called on to perform duties in support of
the
political interests of the government. The duties of the
police
officer in a formal sense were those of police the world
over:
executing orders and warrants; collecting and
communicating
upward intelligence concerning public order; preventing
crime;
and detecting, apprehending, and arresting criminals.
These
duties were specified in Article 23 of the Indian Police
Act of
1861, which (together with revisions dating from 1888 and
the
Police Rules of 1934), is still the basic document for
police
activity in Pakistan.
The overall organization of the police forces remained
much
the same after partition. Except for centrally
administered
territories and tribal territories in the north and
northwest,
basic law and order responsibilities have been carried out
by the
four provincial governments. The central government has
controlled a series of specialized police agencies,
including the
Federal Investigative Agency, railroad and airport police
forces,
an anticorruption task force, and various paramilitary
organizations such as the Rangers, constabulary forces,
and the
Frontier Corps. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto established the
Federal
Security Force and gave it wide-ranging powers, but the
force was
abolished when the military regime of Zia ul-Haq seized
power in
1977.
Under the constitution, criminal law and procedure are
listed
as subjects that are the concurrent responsibility of the
central
and provincial governments. The federal government,
however, has
extensive power to assert its primacy, especially in any
matter
relating to national security. The police forces of the
four
provinces are independent, and there is no nationwide
integration; nevertheless, the federal minister of the
interior
provides overall supervision.
Senior positions in the police are filled from the
Police
Service of Pakistan (PSP). The Police Service of Pakistan
is not
an operational body; rather, it is a career service
similar to
the Civil Service of Pakistan, from which officers are
assigned
to the provincial services or, on rotation, to central
government
agencies where their skills are needed. Recruitment to the
PSP is
through an annual national examination that is common for
several
centrally recruited services, including the civil service
and the
foreign and the customs services. Because the PSP is a
relatively
well-paid and powerful service, it attracts students who
rank
highest in the selection process. Successful candidates
receive
two years of training at the Police Training College in
Sihala,
near Islamabad, and are then assigned to duty with one of
the
provincial forces.
The PSP is overwhelmingly male in composition, but the
October 1993 return of Benazir Bhutto to power may
introduce some
bold changes. In January 1994, Benazir announced the
opening of
Pakistan's first all-female police station. About fifty
female
officers of the Rawalapindi police station will supplement
Punjab's provincial police force of 85,000 men. As part of
her
campaign for equal rights for women, Benazir also promised
to
place women in 10 percent of top police posts, to appoint
women
to the Supreme Court, and to establish special courts for
cases
against women.
The senior officer ranks in the police service are the
inspector general, who heads a provincial police force,
and a
deputy inspector general, who directs the work of a
division or
"range," which coordinates police work within various
parts of a
province. There are also assistant inspectors general in
each
province. The principal focus of police activity is at the
district level, which is headed by a superintendent, and
the
subdistrict level, usually under the direction of an
assistant or
deputy superintendent. The latter is not necessarily drawn
from
the Police Service of Pakistan. At each level, police
officials
report to the political or civil service heads of the
respective
administrative level; the inspectors general, however,
have
direct links to the federal Ministry of Interior. Larger
municipalities have their own police forces, but these are
responsible to the provincial structure of police
authority.
The great majority of police personnel are assigned to
subdistricts and police stations and are not at the
officer
level. Their ranks are inspector, sergeant, subinspector,
assistant subinspector, head constable, and constable. As
one
descends the rank hierarchy, education levels, skills, and
motivation decrease precipitously--even dramatically at
the lower
levels. Although constables are supposed to have a modest
amount
of education, they are paid only the wages of an unskilled
laborer (about US$40 per month), and a head constable--the
height
of aspiration for many policemen--is paid only at the
level of a
semiskilled worker.
Police in Pakistan are generally unarmed. For crowd
control,
police are trained to use a lathi, a five-foot
wooden
staff that may be weighted. Lathi are used either
to hold
crowds back or as clubs. Tear gas and firearms are
available, and
police formations hunting down armed bands of robbers, or
dacoits, have adequate firepower available.
Data as of April 1994
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