Police Reforms
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE INDIAN POLICE:
CREATING AN EXTERNAL COMPLAINTS AGENCY
Written by: Adam Shinar
August 2009
1
Table of Contents
I. Introduction II. Normative Source and Structure of India 's Police Force III. Attempts at Reform A. The National Police Commission Model Bill B. Other Reform Attempts IV. Instances of Police Misconduct A. Torture and violence B. Disappearances C. Corruption D. Failure to observe due process E. Non-registration of FIR V. Accountability Mechanisms and the Supreme Court VI. Internal Accountability Mechanisms VII. External Accountability Mechanisms A. Courts B. Parliament C. Independent Statutory Agencies 1. Human Rights Commissions 2. Police Complaints Commissions A. Canada B. United States C. South Africa D. Australia E. Israel F. United Kingdom VIII. The varieties of external accountability mechanisms A. Review and appellate models B. Investigative models C. Performance based models IX. Guidelines for a successful oversight mechanism X. Details of an effective external police oversight mechanism A. A reactive and proactive role B. Structuring the agency C. Particular powers D. Power Sharing and division of labor E. Collaboration with police and other entities XI. Reforming the police – further steps XII. Summary of recommendations and conclusions
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I. Introduction
The purpose of this report, a first in a series, is a modest one. The report outlines the structure of India 's police force, its colonial origins, and how these origins are still present today. Indeed, India 's police force, in terms of its organizing principles and organizational culture, has essentially remained the same for the past 200 years. This has caused, and is causing, many problems. India 's police force is untrained, brutal, unprofessional, and, for the most part, does not live up to modern standards of police service. Numerous attempts at reform have failed. The situation is dire. Unlike many human right issues where
CREATING AN EXTERNAL COMPLAINTS AGENCY
Written by: Adam Shinar
August 2009
1
Table of Contents
I. Introduction II. Normative Source and Structure of India 's Police Force III. Attempts at Reform A. The National Police Commission Model Bill B. Other Reform Attempts IV. Instances of Police Misconduct A. Torture and violence B. Disappearances C. Corruption D. Failure to observe due process E. Non-registration of FIR V. Accountability Mechanisms and the Supreme Court VI. Internal Accountability Mechanisms VII. External Accountability Mechanisms A. Courts B. Parliament C. Independent Statutory Agencies 1. Human Rights Commissions 2. Police Complaints Commissions A. Canada B. United States C. South Africa D. Australia E. Israel F. United Kingdom VIII. The varieties of external accountability mechanisms A. Review and appellate models B. Investigative models C. Performance based models IX. Guidelines for a successful oversight mechanism X. Details of an effective external police oversight mechanism A. A reactive and proactive role B. Structuring the agency C. Particular powers D. Power Sharing and division of labor E. Collaboration with police and other entities XI. Reforming the police – further steps XII. Summary of recommendations and conclusions
2
I. Introduction
The purpose of this report, a first in a series, is a modest one. The report outlines the structure of India 's police force, its colonial origins, and how these origins are still present today. Indeed, India 's police force, in terms of its organizing principles and organizational culture, has essentially remained the same for the past 200 years. This has caused, and is causing, many problems. India 's police force is untrained, brutal, unprofessional, and, for the most part, does not live up to modern standards of police service. Numerous attempts at reform have failed. The situation is dire. Unlike many human right issues where
Cited: in T.N. Dhar, Governance, Policing,and Human Rights, in Policing India in the New Millennium 337 (P.J. Alexander, ed., 2002). 175 Id. For an analysis of community policing and its practice See Archon Fung, Empowered Participation: Reinventing Urban Democracy (2004).