NCJ Number
87345
Journal
Indian Journal of Criminology and Criminalistics Volume: 1 Issue: 2-3 Dated: (June-September 1981) Pages: 127-132
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the social problems that impede police efficiency in India.
Abstract
Among the first is the increasing complexity and number of emerging crime forms (smuggling to white-collar crime) which the police are expected to respond to with equal sophistication. Although Indian law, unlike British law, permits warrantless police interrogation and arrest of suspects for 24 hours, errors in using this discretionary power can lead to abuses of citizens' rights, professional reprimands, and most devastatingly, to public distrust and disapproval of the police. Police in India are solely under the authority of the executive government, and they are perhaps the most direct link between the State's administrative organization and the citizenry. For this reason, improvements are needed in both police efficiency and in public understanding of police problems. Press relations are deemed an important element in the effort to foster a better relationship between the police and the community.