Govt 'mishandled' police crises: retired IPS officers

The way the state government has handled sensitive issues in the Home Department hasn’t gone down well with several retired police officers. Law-enforcement agencies, which receive large grants and have introduced many innovative schemes lately, have been getting extensive bad press.

Retired officers attribute the government’s failure to address the crises to lack of proper leadership, delay in redressing legitimate grievances and failure to anticipate the consequences of standoffs among serving officers.

Some retired officers say Kempaiah’s appointment as advisor to the home minister triggered unpleasant incidents. “For the first time, the government appointed an advisor to the Home minister. I feel there was no need for such an appointment. The home minister should have all the powers,” said former DGP (Prisons) H T Sangliana. “I don’t know what kind of advice he (Kempaiah) gives, but there are many in the department who don’t think highly of him.”

A former commissioner of Bengaluru police echoed him. “Kempaiah has an equal number of friends and foes in the department. He decides which officer will work where. While some officers are frequently transferred, others are ignored for key postings. The Congress government has surpassed the BJP regime in the number of transfers in the Home Department. Kempaiah’s rivals dared violate the All India Service (Conduct) Rules as transfers were effected on personal grounds,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Sangliana said the top brass failed to pick the right officers to handle sensitive issues. “Loyalty to the leadership is very important. The leader should quickly act but that hasn’t happened. This is because many don’t like the leadership.”

Former state police chief Shankar Bidari, however, does not think that Kempaiah is responsible for the unsavoury incidents. “The government itself mishandled every situation and failed to curb irregularities in the department. It’s not the advisor to the home minister, but the government’s priority that is important,” he said.

A former DGP, who served in the present dispensation, said that action was delayed on several occasions as former home ministers K J George and G Parameshwara were reluctant to heed the advice. They just brushed off the threats posed by insiders or adopted the wait-and-watch policy. Nobody at the helm of affairs bothered about what was brewing deep inside and anticipated the consequences. Two examples are the constables’ threat to go on mass leave and the scandal involving former minister H Y Meti.

He said the government’s failure to prevent two protests — by constables and KSRP personnel — badly affected the morale of the police force and brought disrepute to it.