Policing the Mega City- A Study of Metropolitan Dhaka

Abstract

Unprecedented urban growth in recent decades has led to the formation of megacity specially in the developing countries. In fact, the rapid urbanization has tremendously transformed the dynamics of the society and brought about multidimensional changes and challenges in the socio-economic and political institution in the society. Like other cities of developing countries, Dhaka has emerged as a megacity with a huge population approximately 14.65 million people. In the last 400 years, Dhaka megacity witnessed its growth and evolution in the different phases of history. But in recent times, Dhaka city's growth is phenomenal as Dhaka, as the capital of Bangladesh, has been the major focus of administrative, social, educational and cultural activities. The megacity Dhaka has all the features of rapid urbanization and the concomitant challenges of urbanization. In fact, Dhaka city has grown haphazardly but without the support of necessary infrastructure, facilities and urban amenities. As a consequence, Dhaka megacity has been facing huge problems and challenges which are beyond the management capacity of the urban authorities. Moreover, socio-political tension, economic deprivation, marginalization and political conflict have been some of the major challenges of the megacity Dhaka. All these factors are contributing to the escalation of violence and crimes in the megacity Dhaka which have created major challenges for the effective policing in the megacity. Virtually, the phenomenal growth has put heavy strain on the security apparatus of the state. It was against this background the study formulated research questions whether the policing system of Dhaka city has been organized to cope with the demand of changing physical settlement in metropolitan Dhaka and whether the police have been enforcing law, maintaining public order and providing security to the people in commensurate with the expectation of the people of the megacity Dhaka. In this context, the study set the multiple objectives to explore the features and challenges of megacity Dhaka, made rambling survey of the historical perspective with a focus on the policing of metropolitan Dhaka, examined the incidence of crime and the police strategies adopted to prevent and detect crime and to apprehend criminals, surveyed the regulation, control and governance issues of vehicular traffic movement in metropolitan Dhaka and evaluated the public perception of police in the metropolitan area.3 Dhaka city has a long legacy of policing during the various phases of history. The Mughals consolidated the security system introduced by the early Muslim rulers. In fact, the Mughal emperor, Akbar organized the administrative set up with Faujdar, the emperor's chief representative, the Mir Adel and Kazi, the head of the judiciary and the Kotwal, the chief police officer at the larger towns. Virtually, the Kotwal emerged as an institution in the Mughal regime was entrusted with the security of the people living in the Dhaka city. At the seat of the Provincial Government at Dhaka, the maintenance of peace and protection of life and property were secured by the Kotwal. On the debris of Mughal public security system, the British introduced and organized formal policing for rural area in the whole of Bengal by the Police Act, 1861 (Act no. V of 1861) and the Commissionerate system of policing in 1856 by the Act of 1856 in the Presidency towns of Kolkata, Madras and Mumbai. As an important city since the Mughal rule, Dhaka also witnessed the British colonial model policing under the Police Act, 1861. The rural policing model introduced and consolidated by the British continued to operate in the Pakistani period and even in the Bangladesh period. The framework of policing introduced and organized by the Police Act, 1861 is appropriate for policing a small township but it cannot be replicated in the big urban agglomeration. In fact, it could not keep pace with the increasing security challenges in urban setting as the Dhaka city grows rapidly by the migration of people from the rural area. Since the problems in metropolitan cities are different from those in rural areas, it demands a different approach with prompt action, functional autonomy under a single line of command for sustainable and credible public security system. Therefore, the commissionerate system of policing though not new in the subcontinent was introduced in the megacity Dhaka in 1976. Since then, the commissionerate system of policing has been working for the enforcement of law and order in the metropolitan area by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance (DMP Ordinance No. III of 1976) that provided for the constitution of a separate police-force for the Dhaka Metropolitan Area and for the regulation thereof. The Ordinance replicates the colonial practices in spite of the fact that the DMP Ordinance, 1976 was passed in the independent Bangladesh. The people in the megacity Dhaka witnessed the enthusiastic reinforcement and replication of colonial practices in the form of suppression, repression and systematic abuse of authority for the petty interests of the government disregarding the popular demand and socio-economic and political aspirations of the people. In the past few years, successive governments abused the police for their own interest. In fact, police attitude had4 remained the same as a legacy of the British colonial past. Still today, the common public complaints against police are refusal to register cases, impolite behavior and highhandedness, corruption and delay in investigation. Since the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance of 1976 can also be traced back to the colonial law and procedures, there has not been any fundamental departure from the practices of the colonial police. This has been reinforced by the law and legal process such as CrPC, 1898; Penal Code, 1861 and Evidence Act, 1878 of the colonial era. Though Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was raised in 1976, it does not have the human resource policy in line with the modern day policing of a Metropolis. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is an integral part of the national police of Bangladesh. Therefore, recruitment, training culture, posting, promotion, discipline and accountability are affected by the legacy of Police Act, 1861. DMP does not have any role at any stage in the three tiers of selection and recruitment system of Bangladesh police. Moreover, the recruitment and selection procedure of Bangladesh police at all level lack transparency, integrity and merit. Since the Police Headquarters drafts all the subordinate ranks for Dhaka Metropolitan Police from the old stock recruited under the Police Act, 1861 and the Police Regulations, Bengal, 1943, it has been found that the system inherits the tradition and weaknesses of the dilapidated age-old police recruitment system which affects the whole gamut of operational capability and efficiency in the context of policing the emerging challenges in the megacity of Dhaka. There is a decline of discipline among members of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Officers irrespective of rank and status seek extra departmental patronage for posting, transfer, rewards and protection against punishment by disregarding the code of conduct. In practice, the authority of police leadership in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was eroded over time by political interference, leading to a loss of discipline in the force. In Dhaka Metropolitan Police, police officers are not individually and collectively sensitized towards the issue of the accountability towards citizens though in the democratic system police are answerable to multiple organizations and bodies such as line officers in command, Ministry of Home Affairs, judiciary, Parliament, National Human Rights Commission and media etc. It has been found that there is the decline in the effectiveness of departmental mechanisms to ensure police accountability. The Dhaka Metropolitan Ordinance, 1976 and Dhaka Metropolitan Rules, 2006 do not have any clear cut process to lodge compliant against any alleged police misconduct and to have the complaint investigated in a prompt and impartial way. All other institutions could not establish strong5 oversight mechanism over the police activities. The Ministry has no separate inspecting body to investigate into any event of allegation. Judiciary takes cognizance when it comes to its notice. On the other hand, there is no clear-cut and transparent procedures defining appropriate political control over police in order to reduce illegitimate interference in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Therefore, political intervention for personal or group interest is widespread in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) preventing the police from the rightful work in accordance with law. Such activities range from recruitment, selection, appointment, posting, transfer to day to day policing in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). In fact, political interference has been the major threat to professional and impartial policing with integrity. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is not empowered to directly investigate into allegations of human rights violations against the disciplined forces or any of its members for the allegations of human rights violations committed by them (Section 18, National Human Rights Commission Act 2009). Media is also biased and do not maintain objectivity in reporting. There is no independent ombudsman or nonpartisan independent body to oversee the functioning of the police service so as to limit and ideally eliminate political interference. It was found that the effective human resource management policies are not fully practiced in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Even, there is no strong institution to establish the strong internal and external accountability mechanism in Dhaka Metropolitan Police. The management of crime has been the fundamental work of policing. But the quality of police investigations has been tainted by inefficiency, rudeness, intimidation, suppression of evidence, favouritism and influence, conniving at false accusations, concoction of evidence, and malicious padding of cases, and confession by third degree method. In the process of investigation, it is generally alleged that Dhaka Metropolitan Police incorporates torture as an integral part of the investigative mechanism to extract confession. Moreover, police use force at the time of arrest and torture in the detention centres or Police Stations. There are systematic allegations of abuse of the authority of arrest by the police. In the aftermath of criminal cases of rioting, gang violence, political conflict, group violence, police indiscriminately arrest people without any regard to their involvement in the offence. In fact, arbitrary arrest, detention and custodial torture by law- enforcing agencies have remained a persistent feature of policing in Dhaka Metropolitan area irrespective of the forms of government since 1971 Unprecedented urban growth in recent decades has led to the formation of megacity specially in the developing countries. In fact, the rapid urbanization has tremendously transformed the dynamics of the society and brought about multidimensional changes and challenges in the socio-economic and political institution in the society. Like other cities of developing countries, Dhaka has emerged as a megacity with a huge population approximately 14.65 million people. In the last 400 years, Dhaka megacity witnessed its growth and evolution in the different phases of history. But in recent times, Dhaka city's growth is phenomenal as Dhaka, as the capital of Bangladesh, has been the major focus of administrative, social, educational and cultural activities. The megacity Dhaka has all the features of rapid urbanization and the concomitant challenges of urbanization. In fact, Dhaka city has grown haphazardly but without the support of necessary infrastructure, facilities and urban amenities. As a consequence, Dhaka megacity has been facing huge problems and challenges which are beyond the management capacity of the urban authorities. Moreover, socio-political tension, economic deprivation, marginalization and political conflict have been some of the major challenges of the megacity Dhaka. All these factors are contributing to the escalation of violence and crimes in the megacity Dhaka which have created major challenges for the effective policing in the megacity. Virtually, the phenomenal growth has put heavy strain on the security apparatus of the state. It was against this background the study formulated research questions whether the policing system of Dhaka city has been organized to cope with the demand of changing physical settlement in metropolitan Dhaka and whether the police have been enforcing law, maintaining public order and providing security to the people in commensurate with the expectation of the people of the megacity Dhaka. In this context, the study set the multiple objectives to explore the features and challenges of megacity Dhaka, made rambling survey of the historical perspective with a focus on the policing of metropolitan Dhaka, examined the incidence of crime and the police strategies adopted to prevent and detect crime and to apprehend criminals, surveyed the regulation, control and governance issues of vehicular traffic movement in metropolitan Dhaka and evaluated the public perception of police in the metropolitan area.3 Dhaka city has a long legacy of policing during the various phases of history. The Mughals consolidated the security system introduced by the early Muslim rulers. In fact, the Mughal emperor, Akbar organized the administrative set up with Faujdar, the emperor's chief representative, the Mir Adel and Kazi, the head of the judiciary and the Kotwal, the chief police officer at the larger towns. Virtually, the Kotwal emerged as an institution in the Mughal regime was entrusted with the security of the people living in the Dhaka city. At the seat of the Provincial Government at Dhaka, the maintenance of peace and protection of life and property were secured by the Kotwal. On the debris of Mughal public security system, the British introduced and organized formal policing for rural area in the whole of Bengal by the Police Act, 1861 (Act no. V of 1861) and the Commissionerate system of policing in 1856 by the Act of 1856 in the Presidency towns of Kolkata, Madras and Mumbai. As an important city since the Mughal rule, Dhaka also witnessed the British colonial model policing under the Police Act, 1861. The rural policing model introduced and consolidated by the British continued to operate in the Pakistani period and even in the Bangladesh period. The framework of policing introduced and organized by the Police Act, 1861 is appropriate for policing a small township but it cannot be replicated in the big urban agglomeration. In fact, it could not keep pace with the increasing security challenges in urban setting as the Dhaka city grows rapidly by the migration of people from the rural area. Since the problems in metropolitan cities are different from those in rural areas, it demands a different approach with prompt action, functional autonomy under a single line of command for sustainable and credible public security system. Therefore, the commissionerate system of policing though not new in the subcontinent was introduced in the megacity Dhaka in 1976. Since then, the commissionerate system of policing has been working for the enforcement of law and order in the metropolitan area by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance (DMP Ordinance No. III of 1976) that provided for the constitution of a separate police-force for the Dhaka Metropolitan Area and for the regulation thereof. The Ordinance replicates the colonial practices in spite of the fact that the DMP Ordinance, 1976 was passed in the independent Bangladesh. The people in the megacity Dhaka witnessed the enthusiastic reinforcement and replication of colonial practices in the form of suppression, repression and systematic abuse of authority for the petty interests of the government disregarding the popular demand and socio-economic and political aspirations of the people. In the past few years, successive governments abused the police for their own interest. In fact, police attitude had4 remained the same as a legacy of the British colonial past. Still today, the common public complaints against police are refusal to register cases, impolite behavior and highhandedness, corruption and delay in investigation. Since the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance of 1976 can also be traced back to the colonial law and procedures, there has not been any fundamental departure from the practices of the colonial police. This has been reinforced by the law and legal process such as CrPC, 1898; Penal Code, 1861 and Evidence Act, 1878 of the colonial era. Though Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was raised in 1976, it does not have the human resource policy in line with the modern day policing of a Metropolis. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is an integral part of the national police of Bangladesh. Therefore, recruitment, training culture, posting, promotion, discipline and accountability are affected by the legacy of Police Act, 1861. DMP does not have any role at any stage in the three tiers of selection and recruitment system of Bangladesh police. Moreover, the recruitment and selection procedure of Bangladesh police at all level lack transparency, integrity and merit. Since the Police Headquarters drafts all the subordinate ranks for Dhaka Metropolitan Police from the old stock recruited under the Police Act, 1861 and the Police Regulations, Bengal, 1943, it has been found that the system inherits the tradition and weaknesses of the dilapidated age-old police recruitment system which affects the whole gamut of operational capability and efficiency in the context of policing the emerging challenges in the megacity of Dhaka. There is a decline of discipline among members of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Officers irrespective of rank and status seek extra departmental patronage for posting, transfer, rewards and protection against punishment by disregarding the code of conduct. In practice, the authority of police leadership in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) was eroded over time by political interference, leading to a loss of discipline in the force. In Dhaka Metropolitan Police, police officers are not individually and collectively sensitized towards the issue of the accountability towards citizens though in the democratic system police are answerable to multiple organizations and bodies such as line officers in command, Ministry of Home Affairs, judiciary, Parliament, National Human Rights Commission and media etc. It has been found that there is the decline in the effectiveness of departmental mechanisms to ensure police accountability. The Dhaka Metropolitan Ordinance, 1976 and Dhaka Metropolitan Rules, 2006 do not have any clear cut process to lodge compliant against any alleged police misconduct and to have the complaint investigated in a prompt and impartial way. All other institutions could not establish strong5 oversight mechanism over the police activities. The Ministry has no separate inspecting body to investigate into any event of allegation. Judiciary takes cognizance when it comes to its notice. On the other hand, there is no clear-cut and transparent procedures defining appropriate political control over police in order to reduce illegitimate interference in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Therefore, political intervention for personal or group interest is widespread in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) preventing the police from the rightful work in accordance with law. Such activities range from recruitment, selection, appointment, posting, transfer to day to day policing in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). In fact, political interference has been the major threat to professional and impartial policing with integrity. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is not empowered to directly investigate into allegations of human rights violations against the disciplined forces or any of its members for the allegations of human rights violations committed by them (Section 18, National Human Rights Commission Act 2009). Media is also biased and do not maintain objectivity in reporting. There is no independent ombudsman or nonpartisan independent body to oversee the functioning of the police service so as to limit and ideally eliminate political interference. It was found that the effective human resource management policies are not fully practiced in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Even, there is no strong institution to establish the strong internal and external accountability mechanism in Dhaka Metropolitan Police. The management of crime has been the fundamental work of policing. But the quality of police investigations has been tainted by inefficiency, rudeness, intimidation, suppression of evidence, favouritism and influence, conniving at false accusations, concoction of evidence, and malicious padding of cases, and confession by third degree method. In the process of investigation, it is generally alleged that Dhaka Metropolitan Police incorporates torture as an integral part of the investigative mechanism to extract confession. Moreover, police use force at the time of arrest and torture in the detention centres or Police Stations. There are systematic allegations of abuse of the authority of arrest by the police. In the aftermath of criminal cases of rioting, gang violence, political conflict, group violence, police indiscriminately arrest people without any regard to their involvement in the offence. In fact, arbitrary arrest, detention and custodial torture by law- enforcing agencies have remained a persistent feature of policing in Dhaka Metropolitan area irrespective of the forms of government since 1971