Citizen Report Card Study · 2019-12-19 · Similarly, the manual system of lodging complaints is...
Transcript of Citizen Report Card Study · 2019-12-19 · Similarly, the manual system of lodging complaints is...
Citizen Report Card Study Police District Mardan - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Ashfaque AhmedPhD [email protected]@gmail.com
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ..................................................................................... 8
1.2 Study Objectives ........................................................................................... 13
1.3 Duration .......................................................................................................... 13
1.4 Scope .............................................................................................................. 13
2. Research Methods ....................................................................... 14
2.1 Research Design ...................................................................................... 14
2.2 Focus Group Discussion ........................................................................ 14
2.3 Sample Technique and Size .................................................................. 15
2.4 Instrument of Data Collection ............................................................... 15
3. Analysis and Results.................................................................... 16
3.1 Analysis of the Questions ........................................................................... 16
4. Conclusion and Recommendations ........................................... 30
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List of Acronyms
CRC Citizen Report Card
DRC Dispute Resolution Council
FGD Focus Group Discussion
FIR First Information Report
ICT Information and Communication Technologies
IGP Inspector General Police
PAS Police Access Service
TI Transparency International
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List of Tables
Table 2.1 KPK Crime Statistics 12
Table 3.1 Gender 16
Table 3.2 Easiness in lodging an FIR 16
Table 3.3 Police Cooperation in Filing an FIR 17
Table 3.4 Police Provide Relevant Information 18
Table 3.5 Online FIR/Complaint 18
Table 3.6 Reason for not Reporting a Crime 19
Table 3.7 How to Improve the Performance of Police 19
Table 3.8 Increase in Crime Rate 20
Table 3.9 Police in Eradicating Crimes 20
Table 3.10 Trust in Police 21
Table 3.11 Police Utilizing its Resources 21
Table 3.12 Negative impact of VVIPs Protocol 22
Table 3.13 Equal Treatment of Police 22
Table 3.14 Encouraging Police to Control Crimes 23
Table 3.15 Citizens Feel secured with Police 24
Table 3.16 Recruiting Educated Police force 24
Table 3.17 Changing Police Uniform 25
Table 3.18 Police Behavior with Citizens 25
Table 3.19 Citizens Access to Top Police Officials 26
Table 3.20 Friendly Behavior of the Police 26
Table 3.21 Overall Behavior Rating 27
Table 3.22 Citizen Satisfaction with Thana Culture 28
Table 3.23 Citizen avoid to report crimes due to Thana Culture 28
Table 3.24 Role of Model Police Station 28
Table 3.25 Overall Police Services Rating 29
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1. Introduction
„The first duty of a Government is to maintain law and order, so that life, property and religious
beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the State”, Quaid-e-Azam‟s address to the first Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan. (11 August 1947)
The progress and prosperity of any nation depends on how well it establishes public order and ensures
safety of its citizens. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the crisis of law and order has worsened over the
years, while the country‟s primary law enforcing agency i.e. police is expected to show more efforts
overcoming this serious problem confronting Pakistan. The police in Pakistan is generally perceived
to be corrupt1 and has been politicized2, as a result of which there is a clear disconnect between police
and the general public.
Various surveys show that police is considered to be the most feared and least trusted department of
the government in Pakistan3. Since the inception of Pakistan, few attempts were made to reform the
police system, but in the absence of a political will, these attempts made no significant impact. As a
result, there is an outdated legal institutional framework in place that has fostered corruption and
inadequate accountability of the corrupt. Similarly, the recruitment process and the functioning of the
department are neither democratic nor politically neutral. Recruitments and postings are carried on
political basis rather than on merit. At the same time, the police department also faces the problems of
severe under-resourcing and lack of requisite professional training4&5.
In this grim scenario, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), police is making a difference.
For years, the people of KPK have suffered immensely under the backdrop of “War against Terror”.
Many brave officials of KPK Police, the Frontier Corps, Intelligence Agencies and the Armed Forces
have bravely fought at the frontline against terrorists and laid their lives in protecting the citizens. In
its bit to improve governance in the province, the provincial government has given the maintenance of
law and order a priority. Given this policy priority, KPK police has carried out substantial reforms and
has improved law and order in the province6. The official website of the KPK police claims many
improvements in services such as Police Access Services, Police Assistance Lines, Dispute Resolution
Council, SOS Call Service, Online FIR and Crime Statistics. Besides, it also states that it supports
transparency and accountability by providing details about the police budget. In order to ensure
accountability, KPK police has initiated accepting complaints against its own police officials7 and
reports to have begun action against a number of officials, based on these complaints.
1 https://tribune.com.pk/story/574577/land-services-police-most-corrupt-in-pakistan-transparency-international/
2https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272784355_Politicized_Policing_in_Pakistan_A_Constructivist_Study_of_Problems_
of_Policing_in_Lahore 3 https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/25/crooked-system/police-abuse-and-reform-pakistan
4 Recruitment - https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/25/crooked-system/police-abuse-and-reform-pakistan
5 https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/131776-How-can-police-be-reformed
6 https://www.dawn.com/news/1120355
7 http://kppolice.gov.pk/online/cap.php
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Figure 1.1 Reporting room, PS, MRS, Kohat
Punishment Awarded
Sr.No. Rank
Removed
from
Services
Other
Punishments
including
reversion
Total
1 DSP/Acting
SP 11 8 19
2 Inspector 7 58 65
3 Sub-
Inspector 44 379 423
4 ASI 36 471 507
5 Head
constable 56 611 667
6 Constable 622 3983 4605
Total 776 5510 6286
Source:http://kppolice.gov.pk/comp_acc/complaints_accountability.php
Police has a crucial role in establishing peace and security. Being a law enforcement agency, it
enforces the law of the land and protects the life and property of the common man with their good
professional conduct. However, its services and relationship with citizens has largely been criticized
in Pakistan. Various media reports suggest a need of large scale police reforms; including
depoliticizing the institute, providing them equipment and resources and establishing a strong
accountability mechanism to make it more efficient and effective. Positive criticism aside, the efforts
of KPK Police against terrorism have to be appreciated. The KPK police have had to make huge
sacrifices in the war against terror for the sake of peace and stability.
When examining the efficiency of any workforce, its working condition plays a vital role to define it.
It has a direct impact on productivity8. There is no doubt that providing police force a conducive
environment is important for their performance. The KPK
government is establishing model police stations to break
the perception of old Thana culture. It is also setting up
modern reporting rooms in various police stations in the
province. A total of 11 Reporting Rooms have been
established throughout the province, including Peshawar,
Kohat, Nowshera, Mardan, Hazara and Swat9.
The KPK government plans to convert all the police
stations of the province into model police station in three-
year time period10. This is an important step as the
conditions of most of the police station in the province are
8 http://www.areasq.co.uk/news-knowledge/impact-working-environment-productivity
9 http://kppolice.gov.pk/reportingrooms/
10 http://defence.pk/threads/model-police-stations-in-kpk.282405/
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Figure1.2 Model reporting room, PS, city Mardan
Figure1.3 Police Reporting Centre
Figure 1.4 Police Training
very poor. According to a news report, half of the police
stations in the province are established in rented or in old
buildings where the safety of the policemen is at risk
against terrorist attacks11. However, according to the
citizens, mere improvement in infrastructure will not serve
the purpose. The main objective of police is to serve its
citizens, protect their lives and minimize the crime rate. So,
the model police stations are required to serve this
purpose12 and the government is taking steps to improve
the performance of this institute by taking certain
significant measures. The establishment of Police
Information Technology School, School of
Investigation13,14 Schools of Intelligence, Traffic Schools and the Digitization of FIRs, Tenant
Information System, Identity Verification System, Vehicle Verification System, Criminal Record
Verification, Geo-Tagging, SOS Alert Service all over the province, according to the government, are
the steps towards putting the police force on modern lines15.
After the constitution‟s 18th amendment, KPK Police
Ordinance 2016 is an important milestone towards
institutional building. The ordinance encompasses the
appointment, tenure, transfer and accountability of mid to
senior level police officers. It also gives the Inspector
General Police (IGP) autonomy over postings of officers –
a power which previously rested with the Chief Minister16.
This will help police officers to go after criminals without
worrying about their transfer and posting on political or
bureaucratic basis.
Recent news of many crime scenes reported the involvement
of women in helping terrorist activities. Because of cultural
barriers, to check such activities the KPK police is also
recruiting female police in almost every department. These
female officers are being trained in Cybercrime17 and as elite
women commandos by providing a nine-month training
11
http://www.dawn.com/news/1252615 12
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/28296-model-police-stations-of-kp-fail-to-serve-purpose 13
http://tribune.com.pk/story/720028/going-hi-tech-k-p-police-launches-school-of-investigation/ 14
http://defence.pk/threads/model-police-stations-in-kpk.282405/ 15
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/7942-cm-kpk-sees-improvement-in-police-performance 16
http://nation.com.pk/editorials/04-Aug-2016/police-ordinance-2016 17
http://video.dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/mustwatch/5854/KPK-Police-training-female-officers-to-improve-Cyber-Wing#.WH8Cg1V961s
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Figure 1.5 Police Assistance lines, Haripur
program that includes martial arts, heavy weapon firing, hostage situation, VIP protection, close
quarter battles and other combat tactics18. The CM has also announced to launch woman desk in all
the 500 police stations in the province19. It is pertinent to see the aftermath of these steps as how much
they benefit the citizens.
Many service providers are adopting new ways and latest technologies to upgrade their systems. It
helps to increase the efficiency of their services providing better quality to their customers or clients.
Similarly, the manual system of lodging complaints is becoming outdated. The PAS service of the
KPK police provides citizen an option to register their complaint through SMS at 8855 or by
recording their complaint on Toll free 0800 00400. The KPK government is using ICT to speed up the
process. The service is supposed to help the citizens who face difficulties in registering a complaint.
The PAS service claims that after sending the SMS, the concerned police officer will contact the
complainant within 24 hours20.
Considering the public perception about the
conventional police stations and their hesitation in
registering complaints, the KPK police have established
special public facilitation centers that provide a
comfortable and welcoming ambience for the citizens to
lodge their complaints 21. The system is functional in
every district headquarter offering a one window
solution. The services offered in PAL are:
Theft Reporting
Lost items reporting
Extortion reporting
Child lost and found
TIF Form and Rental Agreement Reporting
Police Security Clearance Certificate
Police Character Certificate
CNIC Verification
Vehicle Verification
Legal Advice
Women counter
Traffic license and excise document attestation
The Dispute Resolution Council is another project of the KPK police which offers reconciliation
services on local issues and petty matters under supervision of the local police. In many countries,
18
http://kppolice.gov.pk/elitewomen/ 19
https://www.thenewstribe.com/2014/04/21/women-police-desks-in-all-500-police-stations-of-kpk-pervez-khattak/ 20
http://kppolice.gov.pk/pas/ 21
http://kppolice.gov.pk/pas/
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such councils are providing excellent services such as providing forums for building consensus and
policy making for dispute resolution22. The practice of dispute resolution through a third party is
global. Some of them are non-profit membership based organizations working independently for
dispute resolution23. The KPK Dispute Resolution Councils are operational in all the district
headquarters providing an appropriate environment in settling local disputes.
However, the efficacy of the new system will only be realized if it results in the minimizing the crime
rate.
Below is the six-month comparative analysis from 1st Jan to 30th June, 2016 taken from the KPK
Police website.
Figure 1.6 Dispute Resolution Council
The statistics shows that in the first six months of 2015, the overall crime rate had dropped. But in the
first six months of 2016 crimes had increased substantially except for cases of terrorism that dropped
24 percent and crime against property which dropped 10 percent as compared to the year earlier.
However, it is actually the citizens who can determine the effectiveness of the functions and services
of the police by providing their feedback in a proper manner. Therefore, TI Pakistan conducted a
Citizen Report Card Study (CRC) in Mardan district, KPK. The CRC is a participatory survey that
measure user feedback on the performance of public services. This is different than the opinion polls
22
http://www.cdrc.net/ 23
http://www.fvdrc.com/en/home/about.aspx
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used to measure the perception of the respondents. The CRC targets only those who actually have
used the service in question within a particular period of time. The primary objective of this whole
exercise is to evaluate a public service paid by the taxpayers and to provide a feedback to the
government to improve the quality of the service and address the shortcomings. Although most of the
analysis is based on the quantitative feedback from a pool of respondents, the study also incorporates
the findings made during the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and various interviews taken during the
data collection process.
Transparency International (TI) Pakistan in collaboration with Movement for Rural Development
Organization (MRDO) conducted a Citizen Report Card study – a social accountability tool– to
assess/evaluate the police services in three tehsils of district Mardan namely Katlang, Takht Bhai, and
Mardan. The population of the district is estimated to be 1,460,00024 which makes it the 19th largest
city of Pakistan25 with 74 union councils, 168 Mauzas and two Municipal Committees26.
1.2 Study Objectives
The CRC study aimed to assess/evaluate the availability, functioning, and the quality of the police
services in district Mardan. The main objectives of the CRC study were:
1. To evaluate the state of police services from the end-user perspective.
2. To identify gaps in service delivery processes and appraise the good practices
3. To provide a quantitative feedback to all the stakeholders, particularly the police department
about the service quality while pointing out weak areas for future planning and budgeting.
4. To provide a basis for future research in the same area.
1.3 Duration
The estimated duration of the study was three months. It started on October 1, 2016 ended on
December 31, 2016. During this period, all work of research design, data collection and analysis was
carried out.
1.4 Scope
The data collected during this study was based on the sample taken from district Mardan. Hence its
findings can only be generalized to that district. Since the overall rules governing the police in the
province are same, it is assumed that the institute has a similar police culture in other districts; hence
the findings are assumed to be relevant to other districts as well. The data was collected based on a
questionnaire formed after a detailed and thorough secondary research. The nature of the data is
quantitative and descriptive statistics is used to formulate the results. Due to financial and time
constraints, this study took data only from Mardan district whereas other districts were excluded from
the study.
24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardan_District 25
http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/population%20size%20and%20growth%20of%20major%20cities.pdf 26
http://kp.gov.pk/page/mardandistrictdemographics
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2. Research Methods
2.1 Research Design
A key part of a research is an effective methodology which helps to achieve the research objectives.
It determines which information needs to be collected, the population of the study, sampling frame,
sample size, sampling method, data collection techniques, and method of analyzing the collected
data.
Typically, the CRC uses a survey method which requires a respondent to choose among the options
given in the form of a structured questionnaire. In this CRC, the respondent was the user of the police
service. The structured questionnaire was prepared systematically by using deductive and inductive
approaches which follow the guidelines of a proper research technique. The questionnaire which was
made following a deductive approach further validated inductively in a focus group discussion. After
finalizing the questionnaire, it was further translated into Urdu. A team of dedicated people were
selected who were given a briefing on the subject, the questionnaire and the objectives of the study.
Where needed, the team could translate the questions into Pashto so as to make the respondent
understand it. The survey was conducted around the Sessions courts of each of the tehsils as it was
assumed that was where the potential respondents of the CRC could be found.
As anticipated, a good number of respondents were found inside and around the premises of the
Session courts. These people had used the police services and were suitable according to the need of
the research.
After collecting the data, it was processed for further analysis on IBM SPSS software. The results
were compiled with graphical representation for a common person to easily understand it.
2.2 Focus Group Discussion
The Focus Group Discussion was an important aspect of CRC so as to include a qualitative input into
the study‟s findings. It also helped to validate the questionnaire and modify it before finalization.
Initially the questionnaire was developed through secondary sources based mainly on the previous
researches, newspaper articles and information given on the relevant websites. In the first stage, 25
questions, with relevant options, were carefully formulated in easy language for the understanding by
the local population. After finalizing the first step, the focus group study was conducted in district
Mardan in collaboration with our local partner NGO „Movement for Rural Development
Organization‟ (MRDO). According to the requirement of the study, the police department of district
Mardan was requested to send their representatives as participants of the study so that their input
could also be incorporated. On October 2, 2016, the discussion was held in Mardan participated by 20
individuals mainly the Local Police, lawyers, media personnel, students, teachers, and social workers.
The session was moderated by Ashfaque Ahmed, Project Coordinator of TI Pakistan. The
questionnaire, comprising 30 questions, was finalized with some modifications incorporating the
recommendations of the FGD.
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The participants agreed that, apart from few challenges, the overall performance of the police has been
improved in the province. They also shared various incidents about police behavior and the change in
the Thana culture in the province.
Figure 2.1 Focus Group Discussion, Madan
These incidents were based on their personal experiences/observations. The representative of the
police spoke about the problems faced by the police when dealing in different situations. He
emphasized on the need of closer citizen-police coordination to eliminate terrorism and crimes from
the province. He also complained that sometimes people expectations are unrealistic considering the
challenges they are facing.
2.3 Sample Technique and Size
On the basis of available time and resources, this CRC followed a non-probabilistic convenience
sampling approach. This approach is not new as majority of the survey researches follow the same
sampling technique. The sampling frame of this study was the session courts in each of the three
tehsils of the district Mardan. The total sample size of the study was 200 which is a decent sample size
to infer a generalization about a district. The objective is not to generate a large number of
questionnares but to achieve a good representation of the population.
2.4 Instrument of Data Collection
Choosing an instrument of data collection is an important part of the research as it directly influences
the results. For this CRC, a questionnaire was developed in Urdu through a proper process in which it
was made sure that all the relevant aspects of the issue were asked to the respondents. The
questionnaire was developed not only with the help of secondary sources but also it incorporated the
recommendations of the focus group discussion.
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Male 99%
Female 1%
Yes 70%
No 30%
Figure 3.2 Easiness in lodging an FIR
3. Analysis and Results
The CRC study took the data from 201 respondents. According to the Table 3.1, 98.5 percent of the
respondents were males while 1.5 percent were females. The very small ratio of the female
respondents in the survey is understandable because largely, as a cultural norm, male face the police
in court matters.
3.1 Analysis of the Questions
Q1: Can you easily register a FIR/complaint? Complaint/FIR registration is a right for every citizen who wants to report any crime and require
police intervention. However, in Pakistan it has been reported frequently that the police avoid lodging
a FIR/complaint. Citizens were of the view that police did not register even a non-causal report (NC
report), let alone registering the FIR27.
27
http://www.dawn.com/news/863875
Table 3.1
Gender
Frequency Percent
Male 198 98.5
Female 3 1.5
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.2
Easiness in lodging an FIR
Frequency Percent
Yes 141 70.1
No 60 29.9
Total 201 100.0
Figure 3.1 Gender
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Yes 61%
No 14%
Some Extent 25%
Out of the 201 respondents, 70 percent could easily
register their FIR and did not face any significant hurdle.
However, 30 percent responded „No‟ which requires
further research to know the difficulties in registering a
FIR.
The KPK Government has initiated the online FIR
registration process encompassing the latest Information
Technology. This is an important development as this
process eliminates the need for a person to visit the
police station to register a FIR. However, its benefit can
only be taken by those who are computer literate.
Important, the online FIR registration is in English and not in the national language which also
deprives many to use this facility.
Q2: Do the police cooperate with you in filing FIR/complaint?
This question was added to measure the behavioral change of police towards a common citizen. 60.7
percent responded „yes‟ while 14.4 percent responded „No‟ 24.9 percent experienced the cooperation
to „Some Extent‟.
Q3: Do you agree that the police should provide you the relevant information to register an
FIR/complaint?
A common citizen is not used to filing complaint/FIR. They are hesitant to even visit a police station.
Filing a complaint in a police station against a crime is difficult for a common man but it could be
easier if the police on duty facilitate him. It will increase citizen‟s trust on their police and build
cooperation against crime. Among the respondent, 84 percent agreed that they experienced
cooperation, while 11 percent found it to „Some Extent‟. During this survey, citizens also shared their
experience.
Table 3.3
Police Cooperation in Filing an FIR
Frequency Percent
Yes 122 60.7
No 29 14.4
Some Extent 50 24.9
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.4
Figure 3.3 Police Cooperation in Filing an FIR
Figure 3.3 Conducting survey, Takht-i-Bahi
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Yes 9%
No 91%
Yes 84%
No 5%
Some Extent 11%
Q4: Have you ever registered an online FIR/complaint?
The KPK Government has also initiated an online FIR/complaint registering facility for the citizens.
However, according to our findings, very few people are utilizing this facility.
91 percent responded „No‟ and only 9 percent responded „Yes‟. The online complaint registration
process requires submitting data in English. It will make a positive impact on the rate if the same
facility will also be provided in the national language. However, further investigation is required to
understand the reason behind this low rate.
Q5: Mark the most obvious reason why you could not file a complaint to Police about a crime?
The Focus Group Discussion conducted for this CRC finalized 07 options as to why a complainant
would not report a crime scene to the police. According to our findings, apart from a minor crime
option, the two options which amount to 53 percent of the total are: avoids to involve in court matters,
police will disturb me
Table 3.4
Police provide Relevant Information
Frequency Percent
Yes 168 83.6
No 10 5.0
Some
Extent 23 11.4
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.5
Online FIR/complaint
Frequency Percent
Yes 18 9%
No 183 91%
Total 201 100.0
Figure 3.5 Online FIR/complaint
Figure 3.4 Police provide relevant information
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Need more
training 12%
Need better
equipment 2%
Recuritment
on merit 37% More
coordination with citizens
8%
Police should
be more indepen
dent 25%
Promotion and trasnfer should be as
per law 16%
Idont want to be
involved in Court matters
36%
It is a minor crime 22%
Police will disturb me
17%
I have reported
to someone
else 9%
Police will not do
anything 7%
I am afraid of Police
6%
It is not your job to report
3%
Q6: In your opinion, how can the government improve the performance of police?
The KPK government has taken various steps to improve the performance of the police including
recruitment on merit, free from unfair political intervention, training and development. However, it is
equally important to gauge the public opinion as to how the government can improve the performance
of the police force. According to this research findings, the citizens feel that merit should be the
priority for recruitment in the police (36.8 percent responded on this option), the police be free from
unfair political interference (24.9 percent responded on this option).
Frequency Percent
Need more training 24 11.9
Need better equipment 4 2.0
Recruitment be on
merit 74 36.8
More coordination
with citizens 16 8.0
Police should be more
independent 50 24.9
Promotion and transfer
should be as per law 33 16.4
Total 201 100.0
Frequency Percent
Police will not do
anything 13 6.5
It is a minor crime 44 21.9
Police will disturb
me 35 17.4
I don‟t want to be
involved in Court
matters
73 36.3
I am afraid of Police 13 6.5
I have reported to
someone else 18 9.0
It is not your job to
report 5 2.5
Total 201 100.0
Figure 3.5 How to improve the performance of Police
Figure 3.6 Reasons for not reporting a crime
Table 3.7
How to improve the performance of Police
Table 3.6
Reasons for not reporting a crime
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The statistics shows how deeply our citizens understand the causes of the inefficiency of a
government department particularly the police, and their response as to how to make up such
deficiency is very straight and clear.
Q7: Do you think crime rate is increasing in your area?
The crime statistics displayed on the official website of the KPK police suggested a decreased in the
crime rate in the first half of 2015, but the same indicators had gone up in the first half of 2016 except
for terrorism which declined further by 24 percent and property cases declined by 10 percent as
compared to the earlier years.
According to this CRC study, this question was asked to assess citizen‟s perception about the police
performance on the basis of crime rates.
Table 3.8
Increase in Crime Rate
Frequency Percent
Yes 49 24.4
No 79 39.3
To some
extent 73 36.3
Total 201 100.0
So, 39 percent responded that they don‟t perceive that the crime rate is increasing, but 24 percent
perceived that it is increasing in their area.
Q8: Do you think that the police can eradicate these crimes?
According to this CRC finding, 66.7 percent of the respondents believe that the police has the capacity
to curb the crimes and 22 percent responded „Some Extent‟.
Table 3.9
Police in Eradicating Crimes
Frequency Percent
Yes 134 66.7
No 22 10.9
Some
Extent 45 22.4
Total 201 100.0
Yes 25%
No 39%
To some extent 36%
Figure 3.6 Increase in Crime Rate
Yes 67%
No 11%
Some Extent 22%
Figure3.7 Police in Eradicating Crimes
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12.9%
12.4%
42.3%
12.9%
19.4%
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0
Very low
Low
Moderate
High
Very high
Q9: How much do you trust the Police?
The two previous questions systematically evaluated citizens‟ perception, who had used police
services in the past. Although majority think that the crime rate is increasing, but they also believe that
their police can eradicate this crime. According to the Table 3.10, 1 shows a very low trust on police
while 5 shows a very high trust. 32 percent of the respondents had high and very high trust whereas 25
percent of the respondents had a low and very low trust.
Q10: Do you think that the police is fully utilizing its resources?
According to the CRC survey 24 percent responded „Yes‟, 49 percent responded „Some Extent‟
among while 27 percent responded „No‟.
Table 3.11
Police Utilizing its Resources
Frequency Percent
Yes 49 24.4
No 54 26.9
Some Extent 98 48.8
Total 201 100.0
It means that majority of the citizens who have been believe that police is fully utilization its resources
or utilizing up to some extent.
Q11: Do you think police deployed on VVIP protocol causes a negative impact to maintain law
& order situation?
The deployment of police on the security of the VVIPs has been an old issue28 irrespective of any
province. Several reports have been published in newspapers highlighting its negative impact on the
28
http://www.dawn.com/news/684973
Table 3.10
Trust in Police
Frequency Percent
Very low 10 12.9
Low 20 12.4
Moderate 90 42.3
High 37 12.9
Very high 44 19.4
Total 201 100.0
Yes 24%
No 27%
Some Extent 49%
Figure 3.8 Trust in Police
Figure 3.9Police Utilizing its Resources
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TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL PAKISTAN
ability of the police to curb crimes. Not only police personnel, but also their vehicles are engaged on
these duties. According to another news source, heavy contingent was deployed on the security of
VVIPs in Islamabad29. In December 2015, KPK government issued a notice banning all VVIPs
protocols;30 however, according to another news report, in the same notification, mandatory security
should be provided to the VVIPs31 .
Equally important is to know how a citizen feels about this protocol and its impact on the police in
managing security in the city for a common citizen. According to the findings of this CRC, 83 percent
responded that VVIP protocol had a negative impact on police performance and only 17 percent
responded that it did not.
Q12: Do you think the police treat every citizen equally?
A public department running on the taxes of a common man should treat him equally and give him
equal respect. Discrimination on the basis of status, religion, gender, or class is not accepted in
democratic societies where every citizen has equal rights. According to this CRC, when asked the
question whether police treats every citizen equally, 78 percent responded „No‟ which signals that a
significant amount of discrimination exists. Only 22 percent respondents have observed equal
treatment to all citizens by the police.
29
http://www.zemtvs.com/3600-out-of-10000-islamabad-policemen-deployed-on-vip-duty-for-pm-nawaz-sharif-president-others-on-youtube/ 30 http://www.dawn.com/news/1228896 31
http://www.zemtvs.com/3600-out-of-10000-islamabad-policemen-deployed-on-vip-duty-for-pm-nawaz-sharif-president-others-on-youtube/
Table 3.12
Negative Impact of VVIPs Protocol
Frequency Percent
Yes 167 83.1
No 34 16.9
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.13
Equal Treatment of the Police
Frequency Percent
Yes 45 22.4
No 156 76.6
Total 201 100.0
Yes 83%
No 17%
Yes 22%
No 78%
Figure 3.10 Negative Impact of VVIPs Protocol
Figure 3.11 Equal Treatment of the Police
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23
17.9%
9.0%
30.3%
12.9%
29.9%
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
Q13: Do you think that crimes can be controlled if we encourage our police?
Positivity can make a huge impact on emotional well-being and performance32. In his book Social
Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, Daniel Goleman explains that communicating
positive emotions enhances mental abilities such as “creative thinking, cognitive flexibility, and the
processing of information.”33 Whether it is a fight against crime or an act against terrorism, the task is
so tough and often results into acute mental disturbance when things do not go right, making a
negative impact on the services delivered to the public.
According to this CRC, 92 percent responded „Yes‟ that crimes can be controlled if the police is
encouraged during the course of performing their duties, while 8 percent responded „No‟ saying it has
no impact on bringing the crime rate down.
Q14: Do you feel secured in the presence of police?
It is the duty of police to protect the lives and
property of every citizen. Citizens should feel
secured in their presence. However, in Pakistan,
the general feeling of people is different about
police. In order to check how the people of
Mardan feel about their police, we asked
whether they feel secured in the presence of
Police. The response was taken on a scale from
1 to 5; where 1 represents „Strongly Disagree‟
and 5 represents „Strongly Agree‟.
32 https://blog.bufferapp.com/why-positive-encouragement-works-better-than-criticism-according-to-science 33 http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/social-intelligence/
Table 3.14
Encouraging Police to control Crimes
Frequency Percent
Yes 185 92.0
No 16 8.0
Total 201 100.0
Yes 92%
No 8%
Figure 3.12 Encouraging Police to control Crimes the Police
Figure 3.13 Citizens Feel Secured with Police
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Yes 82%
No 4%
Some Extent 14%
According to the results, majority of the respondents agreed
with the statement which means they feel secured in the
presence of police. It also infers to the conclusion that the
police is doing fairly well in behaving with the citizens.
However, a considerable number of respondent completely
disagreed. Statistically, 27 percent of the respondents
disagreed or strongly disagreed, while 43 percent agreed or
strongly agreed with the statement.
Q15: Do you think that recruiting educated people in the police will improve the behavior of
police with the citizen?
Several researches have been conducted to define and scientifically test the relationship between
performance and productivity of an educated workforce and established a strong positive relationship
between educated individuals and their performance. According to Berger and Fisher (2013) research
work published in The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a well-educated workforce is key to state
prosperity34
The same findings are supported by the work of Barcelona GSE Affiliated Professor and CREI
Researcher Thijs van Rens which was published in The Review of Economics and Statistics35. The
findings suggest that more educated workers are more productive at their jobs and also provide a
social return36.
According to this CRC study, 82 percent respondents think that recruiting educated people in the
police will improve the behavior of police with the citizen and marginal 4 percent think education will
not have any impact on their behavior with citizens.
34 http://www.epi.org/publication/states-education-productivity-growth-foundations/ 35
https://econ.upf.edu/docs/papers/downloads/942.pdf 36 http://www.barcelonagse.eu/news/value-educated-workforce-comparison-growth-and-inequality-across-countries
Table 3.15
Frequency Percent
Strongly Disagree 36 17.9
Disagree 18 9.0
Neutral 61 30.3
Agree 26 12.9
Strongly Agree 60 29.9
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.16
Recruiting Educated Police Force
Frequency Percent
Yes 164 81.6
No 8 4.0
Some Extent 29 14.4
Total 201 100.0
Citizens Feel Secured with Police
Figure 3.14 Recruiting Educated Police Force
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL PAKISTAN
25
Yes 91%
No 9%
Yes 62%
No 38%
Q16: Do you think changing police’s uniform will change the perception of citizen about them?
Research shows that appearance strongly influences other people's perception of authority,
trustworthiness, and intelligence37. According to the Association for Psychological Science (APS),
clothing influences the way other perceive you38. According to another study Michael Slepian, Simon
Ferber, Joshua Gold, and Abraham Rutchick found that clothing influence the way other perceive a
person but also the way a person perceives himself and influence on his decision making39.
Similarly, if we change the perception of the citizens and apply various methods to do so, this research
based approach may also be applied.
According to this CRC, 62 percent of the respondents endorsed that it will change the perception of
citizens about the police, while 38 percent responded that it would not.
Q17: Do you think that encouraging police will help improve their behavior with the citizen?
According to the CRC report, majority of the respondents, 90.5 percent, think that police if
encouraged on their performance will bring behavioral changes particularly in dealing with the
common man. The humble polite behavior with the citizens by the Assistant sub-inspector from
Karachi, Imtiaz Ali, was commended both in media and by his department officials40. Such stories
encourage other police officials to behave politely with the citizens.
37 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-your-clothing-impacts-your-success-2014-8 38 http://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/when-clothing-style-influences-cognitive-style.html#.wihrvvv961s 39 http://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/when-clothing-style-influences-cognitive-style.html#.wihrvvv961s 40 https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/viral/this-pakistani-traffic-inspector-is-stumping-the-internet-for-all-the-right-reasons/
Table No. 3.17
Changing Police Uniform
Frequency Percent
Yes 125 62.2
No 76 37.8
Total 201 100.0
Table No. 3.18
Police Behavior with Citizens
Frequency Percent
Yes 182 90.5
No 19 9.5
Total 201 100.0
Figure 3.15 Changing Police Uniform
Figure 3.16 Police Behavior with Citizens
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Yes 45%
No 55%
17.9%
40.8%
29.9%
11.4%
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0
Never
Not very often
Often
Always
Q.18 Do you think the top officials of KPK police are accessible to a common citizen? It is the general belief that top public officials are not accessible to a common man. The KPK
government, particularly the police made several claims that their officials are accessible to the
common citizen. The CRC survey asked this question with its sample population. According to the
results, 55 percent responded that the police officials were not accessible while 45 percent responded
that they were.
Q. 19 Have you ever experienced friendly behavior of police?
This question in the CRC measures user experience about a friendly behavior of police. According to
the gathered data, 11.4 percent responded that they always experience a friendly behavior while the
29.9 percent responded it is often. And just 1.5 percent respondents had never experienced it. Table 3.20
Friendly Behavior of the Police
Frequency Percent
Never 36 17.9
Not very often 82 40.8
Often 60 29.9
Always 23 11.4
Total 201 100.0
Q. 20 Rate overall behavior of the police
For this particular question, we took the scale of measurement from 1 to 10, with one very bad, and 10
Excellent.
Table 3.19
Citizens access to Top Police Officials
Frequency Percent
Yes 90 44.8
No 111 55.2
Total 201 100.0
Figure 3.17 Citizens access to Top Police
Officials with Citizens
Figure 3.18 Friendly Behavior of the Police
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27
Table 3.21
Overall Behavior Rating
x
Very
Bad 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Excellent Total
Frequency 1 10 26 20 33 42 41 14 7 7 201
Percent .5 5.0 12.9 10.0 16.4 20.9 20.4 7.0 3.5 3.5 100.0
Figure 3.19 Overall Behavior Rating
Majority of the respondents rated the behavior from 5 to 7 which amounts to 57.7 percent of the total.
From 8 to 10 the response rate has been 14 percent, while 28.4 percent responded from 1 to 4. Q. 21 How much are you satisfied with existing Thana culture?
To measure it, we ask respondents to rate a statement (I am satisfied with the Thana Culture) on a
scale from 1 to 5. Where 1= Strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= Neither Agree nor Disagree, 4= Agree,
and 5= Strongly Agree. According to the Citizen Report Card study, 27.9 percent respondents strongly disagreed with the
statement, 28.4 percent strongly agreed with the statement. It means people have different experience.
The government of KPK wants to convert its police stations into model police stations. This will help
to change the experience of the citizens.
[VALUE]%
5.0%
12.9%
10.0%
16.4%
20.9%
20.4%
7.0%
3.5%
3.5%
.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Very Bad
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Excellent
28
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4.5
32.8
44.8
14.9
3.0
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
Yes 90%
No 10%
Yes 66% No
5%
Some Extent 29%
Table 3.22 Citizens Satisfaction with Thana Culture
Q. 22 Do people avoid reporting crimes to the police due to Thana culture?
When respondents were asked if they are afraid to report crimes due to Thana culture, 90 percent
responded “Yes”. The finding is consistent with the findings of our previous questions in which
majority of the respondents chose not to be involved in court and police matters.
Figure 3.21 Citizens avoid to report crimes due to Thana culture
There is a need to bridge the gap between police and citizen so that more citizens cooperate with their
police to eliminate crimes.
Q. 23 Will Model Police Stations change the Thana culture?
Out of 201 respondents, 65.7 percent responded „Yes‟ and only 5.5 percent responded No. Those who
believe that they will make a difference up to some extent are 28.9 percent.
Frequency Percent
Strongly Disagree 9 4.5
Disagree 66 32.8
Neutral 90 44.8
Agree 30 14.9
Strongly Agree 6 3.0
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.23
Citizens avoid to report crimes due to Thana
culture
Frequency Percent
Yes 181 90.0
No 20 10.0
Total 201 100.0
Table 3.24
Role of Model Police Station
Frequency Percent
Yes 132 65.7
No 11 5.5
Some Extent 58 28.9
Total 201 100.0
Figure 3.20 Citizens Satisfaction with Thana Culture
Figure 3.22 Role of Model Police
Station
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29
1%
10%
23%
23%
33%
52%
33%
16%
8%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Lowest
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Highest
Q. 24 Rate your district police.
At the end, the respondents were asked to rate the overall services of the police at a scale from 1 to 10,
1 being extremely bad, and 10 extremely good. 17.9 percent respondents rated the police from 1 to 4,
and 70.6 percent of the respondents rated the police services from 6 to 10.
Table 3.25 Overall Police Services Rating
Lowest 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Highest Total
Frequency 2 1 10 23 23 33 52 33 16 8 201
Percent 1 0.5 5 11.4 11.4 16.4 25.9 16.4 8 4 100
Figure 3.23 Overall Police Services Rating
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4. Conclusion and Recommendations
According to the collected data of the district Mardan, the overall perception and performance of the
KPK police has improved particularly from the service delivery aspect. However, there are few areas
pointed out in the analysis section like conversion of old Thanas into Model Police Stations, equal
treatment of police to its citizens, recruiting educated individuals, building confidence among citizens
to report crime, and effective resource utilization which need to be focused on and addressed as a part
of continuous improvement.
Based on the findings of the CRC study and the focus group discussion, following are the proposed
recommendations:
1. The KPK Police should enhance awareness among citizens to report incidents of non-
cooperation of police staff in registering FIR/complaint.
2. The online complaint/FIR registration is a fine option to increase the rate of reporting crime.
However, it is not widely utilized among the citizens. One reason could be its interface/input
in English language which caters to a small section of the citizens. Options should be
available in national language so that more people can easily use it.
3. A video link should be provided on the webpage that could educate people how to register
FIR in local/national language.
4. Citizens are reluctant to report crimes because they are not comfortable to be involved in
police matters. Efforts need be augmented further to change this perception. High cooperation
of citizen with the police will definitely assist them to effectively counter terrorism and lower
down the crime rates.
5. According to this survey, 25 percent citizen believe that the performance of the police can be
improved if it is more independent. Therefore, it is recommended that the government should
carry on its policy to depoliticize the police with a proper accountability mechanism.
6. Importantly the citizens need to trust the abilities of their police to eradicate crime. This
requires the sanctity of merit in recruitment in the police. Recruitment of educated individuals
will increase their performance.
7. The statistics available on the website are not in detail. These needs to be more thorough and
specific providing details about the performance regarding the numbers of FIRs that have
been registered, how many have been resolved, and the success ratio.
8. Police success stories should be highlighted and disseminated properly through media for
gaining wide range of public appreciation and encouragement. This will motivate the police
to perform better and improve their behavior towards the public.
9. The Model Police Station is developing a better perception of improved services. Such police
stations should be implemented through-out the province.
10. Deployment of police force on VIPs protocols should be curtailed to the minimum.
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL PAKISTAN
31
References: 1. Express Tribune: Land services, police most corrupt in Pakistan: Transparency International
https://tribune.com.pk/story/574577/land-services-police-most-corrupt-in-pakistan-transparency-
international/
2. ResearchGate: Politicized Policing in Pakistan: A Constructivist Study of Problems of Policing in Lahore
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272784355_Politicized_Policing_in_Pakistan_A_Constructivist_S
tudy_of_Problems_of_Policing_in_Lahore
3. Report: Police Abuse and Reform in Pakistan
https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/25/crooked-system/police-abuse-and-reform-pakistan
4. Recruitment: Report: Police Abuse and Reform in Pakistan
https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/25/crooked-system/police-abuse-and-reform-pakistan
5. How can police be reformed? The News
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/131776-How-can-police-be-reformed
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1120355
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https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/model-police-stations-in-kpk.282405/
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http://www.dawn.com/news/1252615
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/28296-model-police-stations-of-kp-fail-to-serve-
purpose
13. Going hi-tech: K-P police launches School of Investigation, Express Tribune
http://tribune.com.pk/story/720028/going-hi-tech-k-p-police-launches-school-of-
investigation/
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http://defence.pk/threads/model-police-stations-in-kpk.282405/
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/7942-cm-kpk-sees-improvement-in-police-performance
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Cyber-Wing#.WkR34d-WZkh
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25. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
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28. Protocol Duries, The News: https://www.dawn.com/news/684973
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deployed-on-vip-duty-for-pm-nawaz-sharif-president-others-on-youtube/
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deployed-on-vip-duty-for-pm-nawaz-sharif-president-others-on-youtube/
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encouragement-works-better-than-criticism-according-to-science
33. Daniel Goleman: http://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/social-intelligence/
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foundations/
35. University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona: https://econ.upf.edu/docs/papers/downloads/942.pdf
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comparison-growth-and-inequality-across-countries
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your-clothing-impacts-your-success-2014-8
38. Psychological Science: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/when-clothing-style-
influences-cognitive-style.html#.wihrvvv961s
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influences-cognitive-style.html#.wihrvvv961s
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internet-for-all-the-right-reasons/
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