VIP duties leave police stations short of staff
TNN | Updated: Mar 13, 2019, 07:59 IST
CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Police are facing a staff shortage of its own making. Assigning cops on unaccounted and security duties have left police stations with 20% less staff as per the recommendations of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD).
The BPRD had recommended 2,066 cops for 11 police stations in 2009. The city has 17 police stations. Their strength: 1,655. This despite the city boasting of best police-public ratio in the country. The reason for the shortfall is diverting cops from police stations for other jobs, like that for VIP security, sanitising roads, escorting accused to courts and attachment with senior cops and bureaucrats.
As governors and chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana reside in Chandigarh, police have to make security arrangements and clear traffic for VVIP movement almost every day. Around 40% cops of police stations perform these unaccounted duties, affecting their working and proficiency in solving cases.
An RTI (Right To Information) application filed by TOI last year revealed more than 4,000 cases failed in the court in more than three years. The police had failed to prove a staggering 4,257 cases in the courts from January 2015 to May 2018 in which all the accused were acquitted from different courts. Most of the city SHOs have been complaining that they have no good investigating officers in their police stations. Due to the staff being overburdened, important cases sometimes are given to the ranks of head constables in police stations, which have resulted in acquittal of the accused.
In 2009, the BPRD after studying the working of each police stations in the city for five years had recommended that all 11 police stations were registering 200 to 500 cases in a year. Under these circumstances, the police stations needed 140 to 220 cops in each police station, the BPRD had suggested. The city since then has added five more police stations and one women police station.
Cases given to head constables
Most of the city SHOs have been complaining that they have no good investigating officers in their police stations. Due to the staff being overburdened, important cases sometimes are given to the ranks of head constables in police stations, which have resulted in acquittal of the accused. In 2009, the BPRD after studying the working of each police stations in the city for five years had recommended that all 11 police stations were registering 200 to 500 cases in a year. Under these circumstances, the police stations needed 140 to 220 cops in each police station, the BPRD had suggested. The city since then has added five more police stations and one women police station.
The BPRD had recommended 2,066 cops for 11 police stations in 2009. The city has 17 police stations. Their strength: 1,655. This despite the city boasting of best police-public ratio in the country. The reason for the shortfall is diverting cops from police stations for other jobs, like that for VIP security, sanitising roads, escorting accused to courts and attachment with senior cops and bureaucrats.
As governors and chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana reside in Chandigarh, police have to make security arrangements and clear traffic for VVIP movement almost every day. Around 40% cops of police stations perform these unaccounted duties, affecting their working and proficiency in solving cases.
An RTI (Right To Information) application filed by TOI last year revealed more than 4,000 cases failed in the court in more than three years. The police had failed to prove a staggering 4,257 cases in the courts from January 2015 to May 2018 in which all the accused were acquitted from different courts. Most of the city SHOs have been complaining that they have no good investigating officers in their police stations. Due to the staff being overburdened, important cases sometimes are given to the ranks of head constables in police stations, which have resulted in acquittal of the accused.
In 2009, the BPRD after studying the working of each police stations in the city for five years had recommended that all 11 police stations were registering 200 to 500 cases in a year. Under these circumstances, the police stations needed 140 to 220 cops in each police station, the BPRD had suggested. The city since then has added five more police stations and one women police station.
Cases given to head constables
Most of the city SHOs have been complaining that they have no good investigating officers in their police stations. Due to the staff being overburdened, important cases sometimes are given to the ranks of head constables in police stations, which have resulted in acquittal of the accused. In 2009, the BPRD after studying the working of each police stations in the city for five years had recommended that all 11 police stations were registering 200 to 500 cases in a year. Under these circumstances, the police stations needed 140 to 220 cops in each police station, the BPRD had suggested. The city since then has added five more police stations and one women police station.
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