Surplus of senior policemen despite overall staff crunch

Delhi Police have an overall staff shortage of six per cent, but there is a surplus at the ranks of special commissioner and joint commissioner.

A white paper released by two NGOs revealed that the shortfall was from the posts of additional commissioner to constable. In 2014, the total strength of the force was 77,083 when the sanction was of 82,242 – a shortfall of 5,005.

“The highest shortfall was of 37 per cent at the ranks of additional commissioner and 36 per cent of assistant commissioner, resulting in the lack of these supervisory officers in Delhi Police,” states ‘Crime Mapping Study in Delhi’ by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and Praja Foundation.

Amongst other functions, these officers oversee the investigation of heinous crimes such as rape, murder, and kidnapping.

“Courts have observed that one of the reasons for low conviction rates is poor investigation. Shortages in these critical positions exacerbates this weakness,” the study added.

The conviction rate in heinous crimes was 17 per cent in 2014. According to the data complied through RTIs, southeast district had the highest shortfall at 13 per cent, followed by New Delhi district at 11 per cent.

In 2014, a total of 12,872 complaints were also filed against police personnel. The highest of 3,012 was reported in northeast district, followed by south district 2,103.

The least number of complaints were filed in outer district. Barring southwest district for which the information was not available, the data revealed that no complaint was closed without enquiry.

“The sheer number of complaints against police indicates the deficit of public trust. The response of the internal disciplinary system must be interrogated, as in the 12,872 cases, only in a tiny proportion of 35 were FIRs registered against police,” the study said.

The highest number of FIRs – 12 – was registered against police personnel in west district, of these, chargesheets were filed in eight cases. Across the districts, departmental enquiries were initiated in 46 cases and completed in 13.