he Lahore police, on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police Punjab (IGP), have made five woman police officers in charge of investigation of various circles, triggering a debate not only within their rank and file but also among the public about whether the initiative would yield the desired results or prove another aberration and waste of time and money.

According to a press release issued by the Lahore police, Sub-Inspector Sadaf Rasheed has been made in charge of investigation at Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Area police station and SI Sumaira Nazir at Model Town police station. SI Ambrin Rehman has been made in charge of investigation at the Defence A police station and SI Shazia Kausar made the IO at Akbari Gate police station. SI Sonia Liaquat has been posted as IO at the Race Course police station.

Though the new initiative has not been welcomed by the police force in general, the Punjab Police bosses consider it imperative. They need to address the gender inequality in the ranks.

In view of the strength of the Punjab Police, which is around 205,000 personnel, the number of women police officers is in fact negligible. There are only 4,500 women police officers in the Punjab. There is therefore only one woman police officer for every 12,200 women in the province. So far this year, the number of cases lodged at police stations of 36 districts in the province has been around 400,000. An estimated 55 percent of the cases involve at least one female suspect. The number of female police officers is just too small to carry out the investigation of all ongoing cases and apprehending women suspects.

These new investigation officers have been posted on an experimental basis. If the move proves a success, more female officers might get the challenging job.

It needs to be mentioned here that in the past, similar initiatives taken by the high-ups of the operation wing of the Lahore police have failed miserably. Several reasons are cited for this failure. Most male colleagues of these female officers and some seniors think that being in charge of an investigation circle is a cumbersome job. An IO has to both investigate a case and deal with the accused. Many encounters with the criminals occur during police raids.

]“If a woman officer can be a DIG, DPO, SP or ASP in Pakistan, then why can they not be an investigation officer?” – Aftab Phularwan.

When some women officers are accompanying them, their male colleagues have to safeguard them as well as focus on the criminals. Some officers say that the job requires professional skills and corporal strength their female colleagues often lack.

DIG Shahzada Sultan, the former head of the Lahore police investigation wing, disagrees with the notion. He is of the view that there is not much difference between the male and female officers as far as professional performance is concerned. Some of the female police officers have proved themselves better investigators than their male counterparts, he says. “In some cases, they were far ahead of their male colleagues in terms of performance and effectiveness”, he adds.

Sultan says, “I have had the opportunity of working with lady police officers not only in Pakistan but also abroad. I have found them focused and passionate about their work”. They are doing a good job in Pakistan as well, maintains the DIG, adding, “It’s a good policy to promote women police officers and I see no issue in it”. Moreover, he adds, “Thana culture has been defamed to such an extent that it is now inevitable to induct more women in various cadres of the police force so that general perception of the police force improves”. He says that it is mostly because of bias that female officers are accused of being lazy or irresponsible. The DIG adds, “basically it depends on the supervisor; how he guides and encourages them”.

Talking to The News on Sunday (TNS), Saddar Investigation SP Aftab Phularwan says the ratio of female police force is quite low in the Punjab Police. He says posting them as IOs is a significant move.

“If a female officer can be a DIG, DPO, SP or ASP in Pakistan, then why can they not be an investigation officer?”, he asks. He says that in the field they work with their male colleagues as a team. Female offers are considered equal to their male colleagues, he says. So, whenever they have to conduct a raid to arrest a criminal, they are well-equipped and accompanied by male colleagues, adds the SP, saying, “there shouldn’t be any issue of security”. Also, they are less likely to be corrupt, adds the SP.

He says whenever the police raid the house of a suspect and do not have female officials with them, the male police are accused of violating the privacy of female residents in the homes. Of course, male police officials interrogating female suspects can result in a biased investigation, Phularwan says.

The writer is a senior journalist and can be reached at ahsanzia155@gmail.com