Mumbai’s security & police force are maligned after every dastardly terror attack that the city faces. But is the police force truly as wretched as it is made out to be? Here we look at some of the issues faced by the police force.

1. Missing Policemen

Mumbai’s population exceeds 1.2 crores. It goes without saying that a fairly large police contingent is needed for such a large population. Often, estimates pertaining to the size of police force needed by a city like Mumbai are drawn based on outdated methods. Anyway, here are the sanctioned posts of Police Inspectors (PIs), Assistant Police Inspectors (APIs) & Police Sub-Inspectors(PSIs) according to the Mumbai Police:

PIs – 460 ; APIs – 605 ; PSIs – 1735

And here is what an RTI¹ response from the Mumbai Police revealed:

Thus even the existent police force, incompetent or not,  would surely be facing the added burden of the vacant posts.

2. Misfiring Technology

Earlier this year an RTI applicant received this statement in a response from the Mumbai Police : “CCTV is available but recording is not.” The applicant had filed an RTI² to obtain recordings of the CCTV camera at DN Nagar police station in Andheri, Mumbai.

It has been claimed that CCTV cameras have caught potential ”evidence” in the July 13 bombings. In fact CCTV cameras have been used recently with some success by the Mumbai Police. But glitches in technology & in usage of this technology by the police continues.

It was reported that 75% of the metal detectors at a major Mumbai Railway Station were dysfunctional when checked on the 14th of July. Another unfortunate reality is that the police force is often poorly trained to handle the technology that they have been provided with. Some quarters have even suggested that the police are often ill prepared to handle the arms & ammunition provided to them.

3. Same old Bureaucratic Glitches

In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, it was revealed that there was a possibility that the bulletproof jacked donned by Hemant Karkare (the then Chief of Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad) was substandard and this led to bullets passing through it. In typical Mumbai style, the jacket disappeared before further investigation could be done.

In a more recent development it was found that hi-tech weapons procured after the 26/11 attack were being stored poorly & irresponsibly by the Railway Security Force. An RTI³ has revealed that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) armoury at the CST station is not even a prohibited area and there are no signboards there to that effect.

Unfortunately the victims of the systemic corruption that creates such situations are the general public & the police force. To add to the woes there exist our supremely opportunistic political parties who are ever ready to take pot-shots & politicize any situation.

4. VIP Treatment

The average policeperson on VIP duty does 30 to 40 bandobasts a year. A bandobast (security arrangement for VIPs) often takes up the entire workday of a police person. An RTI⁴ application in 2010 revealed:

A lot of this VIP security is needed & is hence justified. What is odd is the number of politicians who need police protection since most threats are issued to Businessmen & film stars. In addition, this is what Julio Ribeiro, former Police Commissioner of Bombay has to say – “Do they really need the security, in many cases we see that security has become only a status symbol.. most VIPs do not need police protection at all. ”

The good news is that after a five year gap, the Mumbai Police has finally decided to review the entire VIP protection situation. Ironically this development occured just a few days before the July 13th blasts. Some media reports claim that actors who had a threat perception 20 years ago and politicians who were given cover post the 1992-93 riots continued to get security cover till recently. In addition, some senior police officers, who retired several years ago, and some people who were given security during and after Operation Bluestar are still enjoying police protection.

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