Democracies need Democratic Policing

Was the German police able to change from a force to a service? What can South Asia learn from this?

Human rights experts from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives visited Germany to talk about police reforms. The goal of this week long visiting program was to exchange experiences and expertise which the participants will use for their work in South Asia. They are members of a South Asian network for police reform that is being established by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and the Foundation.

Some South Asian laws, for example the Indian Police Act from 1861, date back to colonial times in which the entire institutional structure aimed at subjecting its citizens and combating uprisings. This guarantees extensive powers to the police, which she - in accordance with the colonial tradition - uses to this very day against the citizens rather than for securing their freedom.

In South Asia, the relationship between the citizen and the police is shattered. Torture and other forms of ill-treatments are an integral part of police routine. This is contradictory to the idea of democratic policing, which is meant to serve its citizens and not the state or regime. Moreover, in order to fight crime effectively the police also depends on cooperation from the citizens.

„In India, the moment even well-trained and highly motivated graduates join the police, they become corrupted by the system. Promotions are often dictated by considerations other then fairness or merit”, said Navaz Kotval from CHRI. In addition, the conditions of lower rank officers are extremely difficult. They lack training and resources. Surreal situation are not uncommon when no paper is available for First Information Reports or no fuel to drive the police car.

There is a huge difference in the standards of Germany and South Asia, yet basic questions of accountability are the same. Prof. Behr from the Police College, Hamburg, differentiates between the abstract, legal police culture, and the experience supported, legitimate cop culture. If the legal provision are excellent (police culture), it does not mean that the daily work (cop culture) functions accordingly - even in Germany.

The disproportional action of the police during demonstrations - a prominent example provided the occasion of the G8 Summit held in Heiligendamm in 2007 - proves that also the German police is not free of misusing its power and force. This was underlined by resource persons from ATTAC and amnesty international.

But police culture and cop culture are increasingly overlapping in Germany. One reason is the functioning institutional framework: The parliaments, courts and the media exert effective control over the police, said Burkhardt Müller-Sönksen, MP (FDP). The second reason is the general societal consensus that policing has to be accountable to the rule of law. This is also a result of a critical public discourse about the role of the police in Nazi-Germany. Legal standards determine most of the German police action nowadays.

But according to Prof. Arzt from the Berlin School of Economics and Law But this has only changed in the past 30 years. The first comprehensive study about the role of police during Nazi-Germany was only published in 1995, reported Harold Selowski from the trade union of the police. It took the German police many decades to move from a force to a service – much endurance will be required in South Asia as well.


Links:

Feudal Forces: Democratic Nations (2007)

Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed (2008)

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