THE Dhaka Metropolitan Police having asked city residents to take measures on their own to ensure the security of their houses and other establishments before leaving the city during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays by the turn of the month is an unbecoming remark. The city police chief, citing the shortage of personnel, put out the call on March 8. This is not the first time the city police have made such a call. Such a call has also been heard on a couple of occasions earlier and such calls have earned the police criticism. Such a request is downright unacceptable. It also appears an attempt to pass security failures onto the residents. The people, who leave the city to celebrate Eid in outlying areas, always try to keep their house and other establishments safe with the best security measures that they can apply, but it is the duty of the police to ensure that buildings and other property remain safe not only during holidays but round the year. The police鈥檚 call at hand is especially concerning this time as law and order has alarmingly declined.
In the past few weeks, a number of robbery and mugging incidents in Dhaka shocked city residents. In such a situation, it is only natural that people would look forward to the police for security and would expect that the city police would enhance their efforts to ensure the security of lives and property. But the city police chief鈥檚 call for self-reliance comes as a shock. The reason that the DMP commissioner cites is also fragile in that the increase in robbery and mugging incidents is not attributable to the shortage of human resources but a failure of the city police to discharge their duties. In fact, it appears that the police are yet to recover their morale and discharge their duties effectively. Besides, what is further concerning is the proposition that the city police would appoint private security personnel as an auxiliary force during Ramadan and Eid days for shopping malls and residential areas and the private security personnel would be given the authority to make arrests. When many personnel of the police, a disciplined and trained law enforcement agency, are often involved in misdeeds and abuse of power, private security personnel are also likely to abuse power.
The city police should take full responsibility for public safety, step up crime prevention efforts and ensure that any auxiliary forces operate under strict accountability. Security is a fundamental duty of law enforcement, not a burden for residents.