Improvement of law and order: Southern districts police need more incentives, acknowledgment

PESHAWAR: Police in southern districts need special incentives and more resources to attract seasoned officers to play a role in the improvement of law and order in the volatile region.

More armoured vehicles, protected offices and accommodations, extra allowance for working in hard areas and acknowledgment by the bosses will attract more seasoned cops to the volatile districts in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan regions.

The inspector general of police, Akhtar Hayat Khan, the other day said the provincial government has sanctioned 1757 new posts while 36 vehicles, most of which are being protected by armouring, 12 APCs, 100 motorcycles, 7 trucks have been provided to the force in the southern districts. He said more gadgets and other incentives are also being provided.

All the districts in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions have witnessed a surge in terror attacks since mid-2021. Attacks accelerated in the last few months. Apart from several different kinds of challenges, one of the important factors behind police struggling to improve law and order in southern districts is lack of commitment by those policemen who have been transferred to these areas from other districts as a sort of punishment.

Though senior officials claim many of these policemen were transferred to southern districts in a bid to improve law and order, these cops believe they are posted there only as punishment. Dera Ismail Khan used to be the remotest station for any cop from the central and northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past year. Officers and jawans used to be transferred to DIK as punishment in the past.

In recent years, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan both served as stations for those cops who made their bosses angry while serving in Peshawar and other districts in central and northern KP.

Majority of the cops who work in central and northern KP have always avoided posting in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan regions, especially after these areas turned troubled two decades back. After posting in the south, many managed their transfer back to the districts of their choice within no time.

Other than those who belonged to these areas, only those cops remained posted in the south for long who were obliged with posting against senior positions than their grade or who failed to manage transfer out of the two divisions.

The working conditions are toughest in both the divisions where cops are coming under frequent attacks while not having sufficient resources and manpower. A number of policemen in Lakki Marwat and Bannu took to streets and blocked the inter provincial highway for four days last week in an unprecedented protest against everyday attacks and toughest working conditions.

These areas need good officers to lead the force well but with more resources and incentives compared to other districts so they feel attracted and perform duty with more commitment. More armoured vehicles, protected offices and accommodations, extra allowance for working in hard areas and acknowledgment by the bosses will attract more seasoned cops to these areas to help improve law and order in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan regions.