Police eye six more metro units in three years

Bangladesh Police plan to build six more metropolitan police units in Gazipur, Rangpur, Mymensing, Narayanganj, Comilla and Bogra as part of their three year strategic plan to improve the current ratio of 1:816 police per person in the country. The Strategic Plan 2018-2020 was unveiled at Bangladesh Police Auditorium in Rajarbagh, on Sunday, and was presented by Deputy Inspector General (operation) Barrister Mahbubur Rahman and three other additional deputy inspector generals. The plan is a three-year long strategy on crime management, public order management, road safety and traffic management, community policing, intelligence management, human resources and organizational structures, infrastructure and support services, information and communication technology, capacity building and service delivery management. Chief guest at the program, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said we need to use the collective strength to build the skills need to face the challenges and address our social and security needs. “The strategic plan is a road map for the Bangladesh Police to become a people and community oriented organization,” he added. Bangladesh Police Inspector General AKM Shahidul Hoque said the plan was made by analyzing the past and current state of society in order to curb crime, terrorism and militancy. According to the strategic plan, Bangladesh Police has exceeded 200,000 member at this point of time, but the police to public ratio in Bangladesh is at an astounding 1:816. This ratio greatly falls behind international and UN targets, which is why the Strategic Plan 2018-2020 proposes to increase that number. The strategic plan on human resources for the police outlines a target for 2020 to develop professionalism and accountability. There they have emphasized creating more police units and enhancing their capacity. The planners also want to establish a financial crime investigation unit in Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Bangladesh Police also wants establish national counter extremism command and control unit at Police Headquarters to coordinate with relevant stakeholders and implement a national strategy by June 2019.They also want to build a Central Forensic Complex in Dhaka by January 2019. The plan also proposes to initiate the withdrawal of illegal and prohibited vehicle from highways, enforce law against inappropriate or defective lights (headlight, back light, indicator etc), remove overloaded vehicle from highways, coordinate with the Roads and Highways department, BRTA, BRTC and Accident Research Institution etc. They also want to enhance traffic flow, increase road safety, reduce road accidents, create traffic awareness and make sure relevant departments construct road, bridges, under and over passes to free the highways from foot traffic.