Retain top cops at least for 2 years

The transfer of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao within one year of assuming office is another grim reminder of how the government, irrespective of the party in power, views top positions as a game of musical chairs with utter disregard to the morale of the officer concerned or the police force in general. The Commissionerate system was introduced in Bengaluru in 1963 and the average term of the city’s top cop has remained at 1.8 years. However, in the last decade, Bengaluru has seen a dozen commissioners, with Rao’s predecessor Alok Kumar holding office for less than 50 days. Such frequent transfers have a telling effect on day-to-day policing and crime prevention because by the time a commissioner becomes familiar with the city’s underbelly and draws up an action plan, it is time to pack his bags. The next police commissioner too goes through the same rigmarole due to which no major reforms have been possible in Bengaluru police for decades.

Recommendations of the National Police Commission and at least six other high-power committees, besides several orders of the Supreme Court to insulate transfers from political interference in order to protect the functional autonomy of the police, have been thrown to the wind. The Police Establishment Board headed by the DGP which is charged with deciding on transfers and postings is virtually defunct with politicians calling the shots, even after several reprimands from the courts. With many police officers openly flaunting their loyalty to their political masters and arbitrariness becoming the cornerstone of transfers, Karnataka police which was once a professional body, has over the years been reduced to a highly politicised, casteist and demoralised force.

Though Bhaskar Rao endeared himself to the public by his easy accessibility, provided the much-needed leadership to the city police and transformed a lathi-wielding force into frontline Covid warriors, with over 500 personnel contracting the virus in the line of duty, his more-loyal-than-the-king attitude drew ire from different quarters. Invoking prohibitory orders to curb anti-CAA protests and the arrest of historian Ramachandra Guha, forcibly implementing the prime minister’s call to voluntarily observe a Sunday bandh, and police highhandedness in enforcing the subsequent lockdown, attracted court censure and embarrassed the political leadership. Kamal Pant, the new commissioner, is known to be proactive and a no-nonsense officer, but unless the government retains him for a minimum of two years, he will be unable to contribute meaningfully in reforming the city police. As long as officers are treated like pawns by politicians, it will be a tough call for the state police to regain its lost credibility.