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Description
The police continue to hit the headlines in India, generally for all the wrong reasons. India must be one of the few democratic countries where citizens do not trust the police, an important administrative organ of their elected government, and feel intimidated by them. The Indian police are seen to serve the interests of the ruling elite, despite the passage of 60 years of independence and establishment of the republic, and despite the fact that the police leadership is carefully selected and groomed and enjoys high status in the country.
Unfortunately, little is known about the police organisation and the reasons for its poor image. Citizens remain ignorant of and aloof from the problems of Indian police that ultimately affect the functions of the organisation. A widespread belief pins most of the ills to the 'politicization' of the service, in which politicians are dubbed the culprits, not letting the police play its rightful role in the society. However, the problems of the Indian police run deep—the design, structure, culture and leadership are all equally responsible for the present state of affairs. This remains hidden due to a lack of understanding about the nature and functions of the police in the country. Apart from the memoirs of many police officers and the occasional academic study of specific issues related to policing, knowledge about the police remains limited in the country and to most concerned citizens. This book attempts to fill this gap by providing a lucid and thoughtful exposition of the police system of the country. It attempts to describe not only the basic structure and functions of the police but also the historical context that has made it a pawn in the exercise of power by politicians and bureaucrats. The book is written by two senior police officers who are now outside the system. This enables them to provide not only an insider's viewpoint but also a dispassionate analysis of the police organisation. This is the first book of its kind, written primarily for educated citizens to empower them with knowledge so that they can understand the role of the police that governs them. Since informed citizens form the bulwark of a democratic state, it is hoped that this book will play an important role in strengthening the democratic ethos of the country.
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Contents
Chapter 1. History of Modern Police in India
Chapter 2. The Union Home Ministry and Police Organisation
Chapter 3. State Police Forces – Structure, Recruitment and Training
Chapter 4. The Intelligence Collection Role of Police Case of Intelligence Bureau
Chapter 5. Crime Investigation
Chapter 6. Order Maintenance
Chapter 7. Terrorism in India
Chapter 8. Human Insecurity and the Indian Police
Chapter 9. Politicisation of the Police
Chapter 10. Applications of Technology in Police Work
Chapter 11. Policing a District
Chapter 12. Cyber Cops
Chapter 13. The Role of Police in Democratic India
Index
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Author Details
Arvind Verma, a former officer of the Indian Police Service, has served for 17 years in the state of Bihar. He is currently on the faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University, Bloomington, and has been the Director of the India Studies Academic Program there. His current research interests are in data analysis and visualisation, criminal justice in India and comparative policing. He has several publications and articles to his credit. He took a degreein engineering mathematics from NT Kanpur and a doctoral degree in criminology from Simon Fraser University, Canada. His doctoral work was concerned with analysis of criminal justice data using a variety of mathematical techniques such as fuzzy logic, topology and fractals. He has served as the Managing Editor of Police Practice and Research: An International Journal and as an advisor to the Bureau of Police Research and Development in India.
K.S. Subramanian, a former officer of the Indian Police Service, is currently a Visiting Professor at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Some of the many distinguished posts he has held are Assistant Director, Intelligence Bureau; Director, Research and Policy Division, Union Home Ministry; Director-General, State Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development Government of Tripura; Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Delhi; Visiting Fellow, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla as well as at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK. He was a member of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Gujarat 2002. His current research interests include the role of voluntary action in rural development.
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