Police reform: Changing 150- yr-old law will be top priority

The Police Reform Commission will primarily focus on the amendment to the police laws and regulations to make the force time-befitting and turn it into pro-people and service-oriented.

The commission's Chairman Safar Raj Hossain disclosed this after meeting the commission members at the Secretariat yesterday.

He added that the force has been operating under a 150-year-old police law, the Police Act of 1861, and the Police Regulations of Bengal, 1943.

"These laws are outdated. No major changes have been made to them," he said while speaking to reporters after the meeting.

The commission plans to engage individuals, including police officers, experts, lawyers, and journalists … who have been working on laws to bring necessary changes, said Safar Raj.

He said they would incorporate the best practices from police reform proposals being implemented in various democratic countries.

"We have an understanding of how police operate in different democratic countries, and we will try to include the best practices of those countries in our reform proposals as recommendations ... ," he said.

The chairman further said the commission intends to get opinions from stakeholders, including civil society members, experts, media personalities (print and electronic media), university students and teachers, and the people to formulate a set of suggestions for reforming the police.

"We have a limited timeframe for completing the work -- three months. We have a plan to launch a website with questions in which the stakeholders can write their suggestions."

Safar Raj said they want to complete the task within the stipulated time.

"After discussing all inputs, we will simply suggest the government what changes need to be made in various sections of the police laws to make them modern and relevant.

"We have to build a good police force for a democratic country, and its main task will be to serve the masses."

During the briefing, Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said they would extend all possible support to the reform commission to carry out its task.

The commission, led by former home secretary Safar Raj, was constituted on October 3 and has been given 90 days to finish its job.