Legally speaking, Bangladesh police is largely guided and directed by the 1861 Police Act. Speedy reforms of the police become urgent and relevant because this Act was principally aimed to administer a static, immobile and backward rural society living in villages and small towns.

It envisages exercise of authority without local accountability. It presupposes a society without any constitution, basic and fundamental rights, organised public opinion, and mass media projecting and agitating the public interest.

The police system as conceived in the 1861 Act worked well from the standpoint of clearly perceived objectives of colonial rule. Rule of law was subordinate to the demands of order. As there was no day-to-day conflict between the dictates of justice and the interests of order, it was possible to achieve significantly high levels of both law and order.

Since 1947, and more so after 1971, the whole purpose of governance has changed; from a holding function the emphasis has shifted to economic and social justice. However, organisational change for policing a supposedly free society is just not there.

In the broader context, there is an appreciation of the rationale of police reform and its contribution and linkages to wider reform agendas, such as: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction implementation with the importance of safety and security in facilitating economic growth; the role of the police in improving access to justice; the contribution that an effective police service makes to counter terrorism.

The move towards increasing compliance with international conventions related to protecting human rights assumes added significance. Simultaneously, there is the intent to sustain the de-politicisation of the service and strengthen the crime prevention and detection roles, while gradually decreasing the public order and surveillance activities. The reform need is paramount because servicing the needs of the people has to become the focus of a forward-looking police force.

Coming to specifics, the requirement is to replace the Police Act of 1861 with a new Police Act, which would not only change the system of superintendence and control over police but also enlarge the role of the police to make it function as an agency which promotes the rule of law in the country and renders impartial service to the community.

Another important thrust of reform should be to ensure that the investigative tasks of the police are beyond any kind of intervention by the executive or non-executive.

In respect of preventive and service-oriented functions only, the government should lay down broad policies for adoption. However, there should be no so-called executive instruction with regard to actual police operations in the field. Policy directions should be given openly, and be made known to the stakeholders.

The government should discharge the superintending responsibility in an open manner under the framework of law, a Public Safety Commission/Security Commission established through appropriate statute.

Such commission as above should:
* Lay down broad policy guidelines for the performance of preventive and service-oriented functions by the police.

* Evaluate the performance of police every year.

* Function as a forum of appeal to dispose of representations from officers regarding their being subjected to illegal orders, and regarding their promotions.

* Generally review the functioning of the police force.

The chief of police should be assured of a fixed tenure of office. Premature expiry of the tenure should be approved by the aforementioned Commission. Urban policing should be promptly extended to all towns having significant populations.

The onus of ensuring malpractice-free management of the force, including recruitment, promotions, postings and transfers, squarely rests with the police hierarchy. Quality human resource management, efficient use of financial resources, and adoption of modern technologies are other areas, which need initiatives from police leadership.

The adoption of credible methods of redress of complaints against the police should be a priority item on the police reform agenda. Under no circumstances should "closing of ranks" be tolerated by the organisational culture. Officers of impeccable integrity, good repute, and proven competence have to be deputed to probe public complaints against police.

The civil society's role in initiating an informed debate on contemporary police-related issues, including political interference in police matters, and in arriving at the right reform package needs to be highlighted. Citizen groups can also contribute toward education and awareness programmes on critical aspects of police reform.

Ensuring gender-sensitive policing should be a critical element of the on-going police reform efforts. Programmes and strategies aimed at changing police attitudes towards women should involve proactive induction of substantially large proportions of women into the police forces. A gender-sensitive training strategy should be integral to the police reform agenda.

As of now, the core issue is not so much what the police does, but why it does and what it does. It is time to make the police work for the people. However, there are major influential vested interests within the bureaucracy, and in society generally, that will fight to preserve the status quo.

As yet, the battle lines have not become explicit, but the consultation around the proposed new Police Ordinance will start to demarcate the various interest groups.

There is an apprehension that the present political climate and priorities may change dramatically for the worse with the election of a new government. There appears to be no guarantee that the current momentum will be sustained beyond 2008 with the return of a democratically elected government.

The police reform issue is receiving focused and continuing attention in the media. We have to hope that rather than giving rise to arguments and attitudes that have often in the past confused the real issues, created bad blood, and obstructed objective thinking, it will be possible to address this vital issue more dispassionately and strictly, in accordance with the dictates of public interest.

We can no longer afford to allow the sacrifice of the quality of law enforcement at the altar of infighting between various vested interests.

Muhammad Nurul Huda is a columnist contributor to The Daily Star.