Police and Public relation

When we see a police, we feel apprehensive, frightened, or even alarmed, but when we are in trouble we will go to the police for help. The police have become necessary use. Most of us feel that police is a necessary evil.

This attitude does not help the police and also does not help the people. Most of us distrust police, there are sufficient reasons for this distrust. The police organization in India was established after the Indian mutiny in 1857. Even after independence the performance and behavior of the police is in the same way serving the needs of the rulers, that is the reason most of us distrust the police. A strong and sufficient police force having the confidence of people is necessary. The attitude of the public towards police and the attitude of the police towards the public require change. Unless we know who is police, what are their functions, whether they are exceeding their limits, we can not insist the police to function lawfully, if the police function lawfully the people will get trust on them. The success of the police depends upon the cooperation and support provided by the public, lack of cooperation makes them take recourse to shortcuts and wrong methods. In democracy under the Indian Constitution, the police is representative of the State and sovereignty lies in the Indian people and the police station is public property. The conduct of police should be in conformity to law. They have to respect basic human freedoms to ensure basic confidence in public.

The police organization was established after the Indian mutiny in 1857 to curb dissent and serve the interest of the foreign rulers. The pro ruler attitude is continuing among the police even after India getting independence. Thereby there is distrust in the public against the police. This attitude does not help the people and the public, it has to be changed, for that purpose the police as well as the public should know their role and their participation in the criminal justice system. If the police are well behaved and accessible to the common man, the common man will approach the police and help the police by informing about the criminals and the design to commit Cognizable offences.

Misconception about policing:
The Indian Police is a creation of British which employed the police as an instrument of operation to perpetuate their rule in India. The dominant view in Indian society is that due to fear of police peace and order prevails in the country. The fear restrains criminals from acts of commission. These misconceptions had wider implication on the police function in India. The behaviour of the police towards criminals as well as the common man is based on the above misconception. The Primary role of the police is prevention and detection of crime besides the maintenance of the law and order.
Torture is forbidden by our constitution and various laws of our country. Still people are detained in by the police illegally and tortured for days together. Even though illegal detention is not permissible, it is continuing in Indian society. Registering of First Information Report is an obligation of the police, but lot of efforts have to be made for registration of a crime. It takes lot of time for investigation and apprehension of accused.

Police is a State subject:
India consists of twenty eight States and seven Union Territories. The law and order and the Police are the state subjects. The powers and responsibilities of the Union and the States are demarcated in the Constitution of India. Article 246 of the Constitution distributes the legislative powers between the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. It refers to three lists of subjects given in the Seventh Schedule of the constitution.

List-1 : Union List —included subjects in respect of which the Parliament has the sole power to make laws.

List-2 : State List — includes subjects in respect of which the State legislature has exclusive powers to make laws.

List-3 : Concurrent List — consisting of subjects on which both the Parliament and the Sate Legislatures have concurrent powers to make laws.

Article 246 of the Constitution of India places the police, public order, courts, prisons, reformatories, borstal and other allied institution in the State List.

Substantial Laws and Procedure Law
Laws are divided into two groups namely Substantive Law and Procedure Law or Adjective Law. Substantive Laws are those which define the rights, duties and liabilities, the ascertainment of which is the purpose of every judicial enquiry.

Adjective laws are those which define the pleading and procedure by which substantive laws are applied in practice.

The Criminal Law consists of the substantive law contained in Indian Penal Code as well as the Special and Local Laws enacted by Central and State Legislatures from time to time. The procedural or adjective law laid down mainly in the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence
Act

These three major acts i.e., I.P.C., Cr.P.C. and the Indian Evidence Act were enacted by the British during the second half of 19th Century. Criminal Procedure Code has been revised in 1973 on the recommendations made by the Law Commission of India. CrPC has been amended several times and recently in 2008 and 2009. Some of the provisions have came into force and some of the provisions so far have not come into force. The other two laws except for some minor amendments have remained unchanged. To know about the police and the public the three laws are required, apart from some special and local laws.

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Reference-
Police and You by Mangari Rajender published by Asia Law House, 2014