In a rehash of an earlier decision, the Lahore Police have once again abolished the random stop-and-search policing on roads.

The Police Department claims that the decision to remove pickets from roads has been taken to ensure an uninterrupted traffic flow, and to remove ‘irritants’ for the general public. On the other hand, work is underway to switch surveillance at Lahore’s entry and exit points to an electronic system, with the conversion already having taken place at Thokar Niaz Baig.

Police pickets were often seen as points of harassment and corruption. The public may thus see some relief in the decision. But it’s not just the people. Police officers, both retired and serving, too, are happy with of the decision.

Syed Ibne Hussain, the former inspector general of Punjab Police, says that pickets have always failed as a deterrent against crime. Instead, he says these have been a major opportunity for harassment.

“You will never see a luxury vehicle or an important person being stopped at these pickets,” he says.

Conventionally termed as ‘general holdup,’ the erection of pickets at various points comes following directives given by the concerned police superintendent. The idea is to be on the lookout for suspicious persons or vehicles. “Sometimes this yields good results. It is mostly unproductive and a nuisance for the general public,” Ibne Hussain adds.

He is seconded by a station house officer (SHO) who says, on condition of anonymity that “the real beneficiary here is the constable standing at the picket who usually exploits the situation.”

The SHO says that there are usually two types of pickets: those on entry and exit points of the city, and those that are placed within an officially designated area of a police station. “The police stand exactly where they did at the time of partition. Technology is bringing a change in the culture of policing across the world but unfortunately, not here. Therefore, pickets were and still are considered the best deterrent against organised crime in small cities and remote areas.”

The officer claims that their data indicates that organised crime has increased despite the police pickets. “This brings into question the rationale behind using pickets.”

Zulfiqar Hameed, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), says that surveillance at all six entry and exit points is being converted to electronic methods. “An app has especially been designed to identify wanted criminals through facial scanning,” he says, adding that data of stolen cars has also been uploaded to the system. “A scanner for facial recognition has been installed at Thokar Niaz Baig. It has helped us capture eight criminals so far.”

“Pickets have always been useless a deterrent against crime. Instead, these have been a major source for public harassment,” says Syed Ibne Hussain, former inspector general of Punjab Police.

He says that five more scanners will now be installed on other entry points: at Gajju Matta, Shera Kot, Saggian, and at the Old and New Ravi bridges.

Hameed says that since “meaningful checks” are now in place, the old practice of random stop-and-check is being abolished. Pickets that police stations usually placed in their precincts have been abolished. The Dolphin Force will be equipped with the latest app and scanning system so that they can operate in a more efficient and effective way.

“During the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rule, scanners were installed in Islamabad. But owing to lack of expertise and limited resources, those soon went out of order,” recalls Ibne Hussain. “Learning from that experience, we should try not only to sanction enough resources for maintenance of equipment but also enhance professional skills of our police accordingly.

“If we critically analyse the contemporary policing capacity, I fear that this [current] system will not last long.”

However, the CCPO is committed to improving both the electronic vigilance system and the capacity of the police force. “We have already arranged training for our force. The infrastructure is also being improved. I am certain that in the near future, the public will notice a significant difference in the policing,” he says.

In January 2020, Lahore was named among the most secure cities in the world, after an improvement of 56 ranking spots. It outperformed Paris, New York, and Chicago on the World Crime Index (WCI). Numbeo, a crowd-sourced database of various indicators on cities and countries, ranked Lahore 230^th out of 374 cities in January this year, on the crime index. Whereas last year, Lahore was at 174, it moved down 28 places by mid-2019.

There is also the belief that perceived contributions to policing and public safety by the Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) may have been one of the reasons to replace traditional policing.

Akber Nasir Khan, the chief operating officer of the PSCA and the police deputy inspector general, says that crime in Lahore has declined largely because of the endeavours of the PSCA and other police departments. “The PSCA has successfully introduces a new culture of policing. Since we started, our objective reaction time in the city has been under 15 minutes,” he says. “These components were missing in the police.”

Adoption of community policing has led to more efficient and effective policing strategies. Muhammad Ali, head of Pakistan Forum for Democratic Policing, says that it places a strong emphasis on a cultural shift including moving away from traditional models of ensuring law and order.

“Past experiences show that our prevailing policing culture, especially police stations have been profoundly and deeply resistant to change. The policy of employing new and cost-effective tools is significant… It can enhance their community policing efforts and reduce irritants for the general public.”