Over the years, a perception has developed in the country, deploring the efficiency, capability and integrity of civil security personnel. But law enforcement in Pakistan isn necessarily ineffective.
The recovery of the prominent business tycoon, Riaz Lalji, in less than 24 hours, speaks volumes about the capability of the police force. Just a few months ago, Sahil Saeed, a British born Pakistani was kidnapped. He was recovered unharmed. Similarly, every threat that is prevented is a testament to the professionalism of Pakistani police.
The common denominator in the Sahil, Laalji and other similar cases is usually that, the law enforcement machinery springs into action without a delay. High level committees are constituted and powers of influence, all the way up the Minister of Interior himself, often become involved in the cases.
However, the sad reality is that, crime is on the rise in Pakistan, despite the fact that the police-to-army expense ratio, according to certain estimates, has risen to one-third from one-tenth about a decade ago.
A significant number of crimes are not reported, and a majority of those that are, remain uninvestigated. Between 1999 and 2009, an increase of about 30 percent was witnessed in reported crimes, according to the recently released FBS Yearbook 2009.
This begs the question, is justice free in Pakistan?
If influence in power circles and pressure from foreign governments is the required impetus to make the policing machinery work, then what justice can a common man expect? And, if justice is delayed or denied in such criminal cases, then what hope can he have in asking for economic justice, which is a relatively greyer domain.
The answer to both these questions may be difficult to present here given the space constraints, but at least we can be sure about one thing; Pakistani police isn dead yet - give it the right impetus and it will perform.
Effective law enforcement can be achieved through leadership, political and financial support, and extra resources, argues Dr. Hasan Abbas, who has studied police reform in Pakistan, for the Institute for social policy and understanding - an independent nonprofit research organization in the US.
The police-to-citizen ratio in Pakistan is 1 to 477. According to Hasans estimates, there were 350,000 police officers catering to the 172 million citizens in 2007, with a large contingent of police officers deployed for the security of VIPs, leaving the common man with lesser protection.
Financial incentives and top level leadership play a key role in law enforcement efficiency. In recent years, Islamabad Capital Police has been instituted with great success. Officers are well paid, properly trained and led by highly professional leaders. Consequently, citizens follow the rules set out by the police.
Hopefully, a rollout of similar standards elsewhere in the country might help restore public confidence in the police machinery.
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