Smart Policing Index 2021

• 20 Nov 2021

Why in News

According to a nationwide survey conducted by Indian Police Foundation (IPF), police in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh scored the lowest among all States when it came to perception of “sensitivity”.

• Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the State Governments to set up Police Complaints Authorities as per the judgment in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India, 2006.

Key Points

• SMART Policing:
  
  • The SMART Policing idea was envisioned, articulated and introduced by the Indian PM at the Conference of DGPs of State and Central Police Organizations, held at Guwahati, in the year 2014.
  • It envisaged systemic changes to transform the Indian Police to be: Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Techno-savvy and Trained (SMART).
  • The strategy combined the development of physical infrastructure, technology adoption, a focus on the critical soft skills and attitudes, as well as a deep commitment to the values of professional excellence and service to the people, considered essential to take the Indian Police to the next level.
• SMART Policing Index:
  
  • The purpose of the IPF survey was to gather information on citizens’ perceptions about the impact of the SMART policing initiative.
    
    • Indian Police Foundation (IPF) is a Delhi-based think tank set up by eminent citizens including serving and retired police officers, civil servants, academics and lawyers etc – for each individual state or Union territory.
  • The survey had 10 sets of questionnaires, which included:
    
    • Six indices of “Competence-Based Indicators” dealing with issues such as police sensitivity, accessibility, responsiveness and technology adoption among others;
    • Three indices of “Value-Based indicators” dealing with integrity of the police; and
    • One index of “Trust”.
  • The SMART scores are set on a scale of 1 to10 and are indicative of the levels of citizen satisfaction, a score of 10 being the highest level of satisfaction.
• Findings of SMART Policing Index 2021:
  
  • Despite being attacked for insufficient sensitivity, declining public confidence and growing concerns about the quality of policing, a majority of citizens (a weighted average of 66.93%) believes that the police are doing their job well and strongly support the police.
  • Southern states and some in the Northeast fared better on most policing indices compared to states in the north.
  • The top five states with the highest score on overall policing are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Kerala and Sikkim.
  • From bottom upwards are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Punjab.

Related Government Initiative

• The ranking of police stations across the country is an annual exercise by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), with the stations judged on the basis of parameters like crime rate, investigation and disposal of cases, infrastructure, and delivery of public service, among other features.
  
  • About 20% of the total points are also based on feedback about the police station from citizens.
• For the year 2021, Sadar Bazar police station in the Capital (Delhi) was the best police station across the country this year.
• Two other police stations -- Gangapur in Odisha and Bhattu Kalan in Haryana -- were ranked second and third on the list.

Police Reforms

• Police reforms aim to transform the values, culture, policies and practices of police organizations.
• It envisages police to perform their duties with respect for democratic values, human rights and the rule of law.
• It also aims to improve how the police interact with other parts of the security sector, such as the courts and departments of corrections, or executive, parliamentary or independent authorities with management or oversight responsibilities.
• Police come under the state list of schedule 7 of the Indian constitution.

Source:TH