Restructuring Indian constabulary (Armed Branch)

Zarvan · Nov 6, 2020

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM ?

Training
After the custodial torture and death of Jayaraj and Fenix in Tamil Nadu, people raised questions on accountability of the police department and blamed police brutality for the death of the duo. Some even went ahead and compared this incident with George Floyd’s death.

Police brutality is a reality in India, although it cannot be compared with the atrocities commited by police departments of other nations. Police brutality of two separate nations can never be compared, as the meaning varies. In India, police brutality includes — custodial death, use of third degree torture for interrogation, use of excessive force etc. This may not be the case in the United States, where the police department is plagued with different set of problems like racial profiling, shootings etc. The much respected Japanese police too has a different set of problems to deal with, like biased attitude towards foreigners and interrogation techniques.

One of the main reason why police in India is brutal and still uses torture techniques is because of inadequate and outdated training of the lower ranks who deal with the public on a daily basis. Whatever the lower ranks i.e constables and inspectors are taught at state police academies is outdated in today’s rapidly evolving and digitalised world. Ill-trained police personnel who man police stations and PCR vans then give an unpleasant experience to the public which taints the overall image of the force.

Promotions
Regarding promotions, the current promotion policy is as outdated as training modules are. It seems that the current promotion policy is from the colonial era where the lower ranks of the police were purposely kept in the lower strata. Currently, a constable (CT) can at maximum be promoted to the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) i.e 2 promotions in the entire career. Similarly, a Sub-Inspector (SI), also gets only two promotions i.e from SI to Inspector and then to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) or Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in commissionerates. Due to lack of job prospects, lower rank police personnel get frustrated and demotivated as they see no future or incentive in their career, slowly setting their foot into malpractices.

Lower ranks of the police (Constables and Inspectors) constitute 99% of the workforce. India cannot afford to have a police force where the cutting edge is dispassionate and uninterested in their duties. Need of the hour is to incentivise police duties and make it a lucrative avenue.

But things are not as bad as it may sound. As police is a state subject, state governments have been empowered to model the police departments and rules as per their needs, hence different states have different promotion policies. Some states like Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir have very progressive promotion policies, so much so, that Sub-Inspectors (SIs) have gone ahead to become Senior Superintendent of Police (SSPs)

WHAT DOES THIS ARTICLE PROPOSE ?

In this article, we propose a new training and promotion policy for the constabulary and the inspectorate. In the first part of the article we propose a new structure for the police department. In the latter part we explain how the armed brach, ie one of the two branches of the police should recruit and promote its personnel.

If one is not able to make it to the Indian Police Service (IPS) through the civil services exam, this policy aims to give aspirants an alternate option to command police formations. Once recruited as a Constables or an SI, it would be the responsibility of the respective state governments to equip them with the required critical thinking skills and knowledge to make them at par with their IPS counterparts.

The proposed policy aims to intellectually equip the CT and SI through an extensive training module, college degrees and post promotion leadership courses. Well educated and motivated police personnel will always yield good results.

Promotions will purely be based on Assessment + ClearancesRESTRUCTURING POLICE DEPARTMENT

We propose that police departments be divided broadly into 2 categories — Armed Branch and Unarmed Branch. Recruitment, promotions and training should be done separately for the two branches. Although state police departments have divided the police strength into specific tasks, training and allotment of duties remain vague thus diluting the skills and decreasing the efficiency of the personnel. The following graphic and paragraphs explains how the police should be categorised.

The following part will discuss the armed branch of the police in detail.

ARMED BRANCH
Police personnel in India are majoritarily unarmed or one could say, ‘lightly armed’. Constables who patrol the streets usually carry lathis (bamboo Baton) and a 9mm pistol, on rare occasions constables are spotted carrying a 5.56 INSAS rifle. The police set-up is so that the unarmed section of the police like Police Station staff, Beat patrolling staff, detectives, forensics etc. are backed by the armed police reserves in case of riots and other law and order situations. These reserves are evenly deployed in battalion strength (i.e.800- 1000 personnel in each battalion) across the state to meet any contingencies.

The idea is to put all those departments which don’t have much interaction with the public and have roles which are different from the core policing fundamentals into the Armed Branch.

The main function of the proposed Armed Branch will be to provide support to the unarmed branch in carrying our core policing duties. We propose that field policing duties be clubbed together under the Armed Branch. Recruitment, training and promotions, which we will talk about later, should be different from unarmed branch. Currently, the closest we can witness something like this is in Uttar Pradesh where there are broadly 2 branches of the police i.e Civil Police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and personnel for support elements like ATS are drawn from PAC.

The following departments should be clubbed under the Armed Branch -

Armed police reserves (AP)
District Armed police (DAP)
State Industrial Security Force (SISF)
Special Auxiliary Police (SAP)
Rapid Action Force (not to be confused with CRPF’s RAF)
Special Task Force (STF)
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)
Bomb Squad (BDS)
Dog Squad (K-9)

RECRUITMENT ENTRY LEVELS -

CONSTABLE (with or w/o college degree)
SUB-INSPECTOR (college degree mandatory)

ARMED CONSTABLES

PROMOTIONS — Constables (CTs) who have a formal college degree or those who manage to obtain a distance education degree in their first five years of their service will be promoted till the ranks of SP. As SPs they will get a chance to command Armed Police Battalions, Bomb Squad Groups, Commando units, but not police formations. Those who fail to obtain a degree will be promoted till the rank of DySP. Promotions will be done after assessing section leadership skills and promotional exams marks. Since there is an SI level recruitment, 1/3 posts of SIs will be reserved for promotee SIs i.e those who are promoted from ASI to SI.

Armed Branch CTs who fail to obtain a college degree will only be promoted till the rank of DySP. Promotions will relatively be slower as compared to those with a degree

Armed CTs who have a degree or those who manage to get one in their first 5 years of service would be promoted till the rank of SP (Commandant of AP battalion)

TRAINING — The idea of clubbing various support branches and having a separate training regime is to increase the training quality. Specialised training to the recruits will enhance their skills which would lead to an overall increase in efficiency of the support elements.

Training for the armed branch Constables should last for 11 months (9 months basic training + 2 months specialised training). The basic training will focus on

Arms handling
Riot control technique
Basic IED and bomb disposal
Room intervention
Basic jungle warfare techniques etc.

Since armed branch personnel will be involved in anti-riot operations, basic knowledge of human rights laws and international conventions should be imparted to all. Classes on Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedures (CRPC) can be sidelined as personnel of armed police will seldom be involved in crime investigations and arrests. Once the first phase of training is complete, recruits will then go for specialised training for 2 months in the branch they have been allotted to (eg — Advanced level bomb detection and disposal courses for those who have been allotted to Bomb Squad or Advanced level commando courses for those who have been allotted to STF, SWAT and QRT).

The idea of giving preference in promotion to those with college degree is to encourage them to study which would further enhance their skills.

ARMED SUB-INSPECTORS

PROMOTIONS — Since the directly recruited SIs will be young in age, they can be put in leadership roles at early stages. The direct SIs may be given the role of team leaders (with 40–50 personnel under them) in various armed police branches mentioned above, whereas the older promotee SIs may be placed into the administrative duties, welfare and armoury etc. Only those promotee SIs who get approvals from the commandant’s office may be given the charge of a team. Armed SIs shall be promoted till the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG). As DIGs they will get a chance to command armed police formations.

TRAINING — The training of Armed SIs will be of 2 years, because of the leadership roles the SIs have to assume as soon as they join service. The training would be divided into 2 phases. The first phase would include theoretical and in-class training and the second phase would be of a probation period or ‘detachment’ at the nearest Armed police battalion, Anti-Riot police unit, SISF unit, Commando units etc. Once both the phases are complete, the SIs can further opt for a 2 months advanced course in the brach they have been allotted to. As armed constables would be imparted with basic level training, these SIs would be given advanced level training in jungle warfare, weapons tactics, room intervention etc. Apart from outdoor classes, they should also be taught soft-skills and personnel above the rank of inspectors at armed branches should be taught public and media interaction.

END OF PART 1

In the second part we will discuss the promotion and training regime of the unarmed branch which included police station staff, beat constables, detectives etc. We will also discuss why the DySP entry or the State police service (SPS) be disbanded.