NCJ Number
178511
Date Published
1998
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This is a summary of the main issues discussed at an Indian workshop on police reforms in August 1998.
Abstract
The objectives of the workshop were to create awareness of recommendations made by the National Police Commission (NPC), particularly those relating to control over the police and police accountability; discuss initiatives to ensure implementation of the NPC’s recommendations; and suggest strategies for police reforms. Complaints against the police were that they were partisan, brutal and lawless, corrupt, lacking in professional competence, and highly politicized. The NPC recommended that a State Security Commission (SSC) be established statutorily in each state. The SSC should: (1) lay down broad policy guidelines for the performance of preventive and service-oriented functions by the police; (2) evaluate the performance of the State Police every year; (3) function as a forum of appeal to dispose of representations from officers regarding their being subjected to illegal orders and regarding their promotion; and (4) generally review the functioning of the State Police Force. The paper also contains 14 specific recommendations for police reforms. Notes