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Thoughts on proposed campus police
Razzak Raza
In the backdrop of the recent campus violence during which led to compel the government to declare a curfew in the major cities of the country, the formation of Campus Police has been the talk among the think tanks. Debates are going on in newspaper columns. Newspapers published their own views in their editorials. Articles are written by renowned column contributors. Letters by readers have also been published. I carefully studied the articles, editorials, and letters published in the newspapers. Analysing the recent opinions and proposals of the writers one may summarise them as follows:
1. In maintaining law and order on the university campuses the traditional police force is not sufficient. So a Campus Police Force of special capabilities is needed.
2. Some people opine that the campus police will be a part of the national police force that will be recruited as usual, but they will be more educated and more qualified.
3. The controlling officers of the Campus Police will hold a masters' degree while the other ranks will be minimum graduates.
4. They will be trained and equipped differently and qualitatively.
5. The campus police, either special armed police or unarmed security squad, should be quite different from the conventional police forces and must be under full control and management of the university authority.
6. The Proctor of the university will be the immediate controlling boss of the campus police.
7. Transfer of the campus police will be among the universities, university colleges and colleges.
8. A DIG will be in charge of a university campus police and an SP will be in the charge of other institutions.
9. Campus Police will not be equipped with heavy arms. A riot section will control the emergency or a dangerous situation.
10. Intelligence personnel may be deployed with plain clothes.
11. Campus Police will be empowered to issue police clearance certificates.
12. All private universities will be brought under the Campus police.
13. Across the world there are many universities that have their own police to provide a safe and secure campus.
There is no disagreement about the opinions of those who say that a police force in the university campuses should be raised, controlled and trained differently; but the view on command and control of the Campus Police does not seem reasonable.
Unlike the police force of Bangladesh, the police forces in the USA are decentralised. There are numerous different police forces in a single state in the USA that are independent of national or federal police and discharge their services according to their own rules. There are more than 18,000 different police forces in the USA. Countries of Europe, South America and Asia have centralized national police forces.
The campus police of the USA are the independent and small forces who have a dozen to hundred members. Campus police forces are raised as an essential department of the university. Some of the campus police forces do not have prosecuting powers that a regular police force must have. The campus police forces have common histories of non-police private security forces. But gradually they acquired the characters and powers of the sworn police forces.
In Bangladesh, the Police Force is constituted under the Police Act-1861. According to the Police Act-1861, "the entire police establishment under a government shall for, the purposes of this Act be deemed to be one police force, and shall be formally enrolled; and shall consist of such number of officers and men, and shall be constituted in such manner as shall from time to time be ordered by the government'' (section -2 of Police Act-1861).
On the other hand, "the administration of the police - district shall be vested in an officer to be styled the Inspector-General of Police, and in such Deputy Inspector General and Assistant Inspector General as to the government shall seem fit.''(Section-4 of the Police Act). So any police organisation/unit must be a part of the national police force and the Inspector General of Police will be their ultimate operational and administrative chief.
The campus -police idea-brooders want a DIG to be the boss of the campus police, and, the DIG will be controlled by the Vice-Chancellor (VC). Now according to the Police Act the vice-chancellor should be under the control of the IGP that is an absurd idea in the context of our existing statute.
Some proposes that the private universities will be under the campus police authority .If the campus police is an extension of the same campus police headed by a DIG, the DIG will work under the control of the VC of a private university who is a private person.
We know that every university has its own rules and regulations. Public universities are autonomous. So the proctor of Dhaka University has no command and control over the administration of Rajshahi University and same are the cases with private university. So, no campus police should be placed under the control of any university authority.
Some people suggest that the campus police will provide the student with police clearance certificates. But one should know the general procedure of police function. Our police activities especially the lodging of criminal cases starts at the police station. Criminal records are preserved at the police station. When a student applies for a police clearance the police will look into the existing records of the applicant. If a student demands that his permanent address is the university campus, he might be given the police clearance from the police station close to the campus. As a student spends only four to six years in a university so how will the campus police certify the clearance of the rest of his/her life?
One daily suggested that the campus police would be a different small force who would be appointed on the hire and fire basis. It would be a private security force devoid of the character of the police officers appointed under the Police Act -1861. They would be paid by the university authority. They will make arrest not by the power of a police officer but by the power of the general public.
The universities of Bangladesh have different types of security hazards than the universities of the developed countries. Our campuses are infested with party politics. The political parties directly interfere with the student politics. All the major political parties maintain their student wing. The students' bodies are directly controlled by the political leaders. The hartals, lockout, blockades and work abstention are the regular phenomena of a university campus. Political-party-sponsored violent demonstrations on the varsity campus are not known in the Western nations.
The university teachers are divided into party affiliations. Every public university has a teachers' association and the elections of those associations are influenced by party politics. It is a common allegation against university teachers that they abide by the party rules more accurately than the university regulations. So the campus police controlled by the university authority will lose neutrality quickly. The partisan teachers will use the campus police for their personal gains.
It is the need of the time that a campus police must be formed. But what kind of campus police do we want? Will it be an extension of the existing police force under the IGP, or a totally different one? Will the campus police be a prosecuting agency like the thana police or will it be a private security guard controlled and paid by the university authority?
(a) A university can have a non-police security force that will guard the establishments and important places on the campus. The national police fore under the command and control of the IGP will have no relation with it. The university authority can contract with the non-government security companies to run the force.
(b) Besides their own security measures there should be an organised police force on the university campuses that will be a part of the national police force under the command and control of the IGP. But this force will be of different character and quality. The university campuses are not the ordinary places. Meritorious students and the wise teachers are the inhabitants of the campus. A young man cherishing the highest degree from the university is the police -service client. His eyes are full with dreams; he observes every better thing with utmost emotion. So, policing in a university campus demands special care.
(c) All universities public or private must have a unit of campus police. Universities like the Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi University, Chittagong University and other universities with more than 10 thousand students will have a police unit commanded by a Superintendent of police. Campus Police of private universities and university colleges will be commanded by an Additional Superintendent or an Assistant superintendent of police as per the importance of the institutions. An officer of or above the rank of a DIG will be in charge of all the campus police units.
(d) The strength of the Campus police will be limited to two thousand police members only. The largest unit of the campus police may have only 140 officers. For campus police will not be a riot police unit. If it is needed, the police force of other units near by will meet the emergency.
(e) The campus police will be an officer based organisation. No constables will be posted to the campus police. The sub-inspectors/sergeants will be the lowest rank on a campus police. Constables could be posted to perform the official or orderly duty purpose. They will not be deployed or be given operational duties.
(f) At the beginning qualified officers of university alumni will be sorted out. Officers with little patience or of short temper must not be selected for campus police.
(g) The campus police officers must be given especial training. The university teachers, proctors, and VCs may be called to deliver lectures in the training course. The training course will include visiting abroad to be famoliarised with campus police functions.
(h) The campus police will work with consultation with the university authorities. The motto of the campus police will be to serve the inhabitants, visitors and the students. The law and order situation will be nipped in the bud by developing a rapprochement between the police and the campus community.
The Campus Police will work with a partnership with the University community as they do in the western countries. Their main job will be to protect life, property, prevent crime and resolve problems. They will protect individuals and control crowds during assemblies or disturbances; investigate and prepare written reports on accidents, property damage, fires, law violations, thefts, and disturbances or the peace; gather evidence and interview witnesses, and apprehend violators.
(j) The officers of the campus police will be given attracting incentives and will be provided with necessary logistics. Modern equipments and aids should be supplied with so they can handle the situation amicably and curb or detect the crime easily.
(k) Transfer of the officers of the campus police will be kept at minimum level and it should be limited to one campus to another ones. No officer will leave campus police without completing three years in the campus police. Officers of agreeable qualities to the campus community will serve in the campus police as long as they wish.
To supplement the strength of the campus police and to orient the young students of universities to the police job the campus police will be given the authority to recruit police volunteers to do the simple duties.
The campus police is an unavoidable demand of these days. To protect the campus communities and ensure a congenial environment in the educational institutions no alternative than introducing a specialized campus police is left. Our university campuses should be freed from outsider goons, pilferers, extortionists, robbers and all other unsocial activists.
The armed hoodlums and the politically motivated student leaders must not be given any room to stand in the university campuses. The success of a campus police depends greatly on the campus community who are directly controlled by the university authority. So the university authority will be the prime factor in the inception of the campus police. The university authority will control the academic activities while the police will control the law and order situation in the campus, and a close coordination and cooperation between the two will make the campus peaceful.
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