Outgoing IGP wants Benazir to make police world standard

Outgoing Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary has said he wants newly appointed IGP Benazir Ahmed to make Bangladesh police world instance.

“To me, the main challenge was to develop the police force to a world level. People talk about England’s police as an ideal example. I want the next IGP to walk such a path that Bangladesh police becomes an example to the rest of the world,” the outgoing IGP said during an online press conference arranged to mark his retirement from police and resignation from the IGP post.

Javed Patwary also spoke of the need to rearrange the system of recruitment, posting and promotion to ensure transparency.

“I have been able to start ensuring transparency and credibility in these three places. Police have started believing that posting and promotions are done the basis of merit and qualifications,” he said.

He added that it had been very difficult to ensure transparency, claiming 3,500 sub-inspectors and 13,000 constables were recruited in a “very transparent manner” during his tenure. 

When asked if people still fear the police, he said: “There are a lot of differences between the police two years ago and the police now. I brought 700 OCs to talk to them one-to-one and tried to motivate them. Many have informed me that the police have changed their behavior a lot. This is a good beginning, surely.”

When asked why the number of suspensions of police members is very low compared to the number of departmental investigations, he said: “Police investigations follow some rules, and we punished them according to those rules. Our stance was very strict about it.”

He also said he tried hard to monitor police stations and motivate officers.

In addition, Javed Patwary said rations for retired police officers and merit stipends for the offspring of 200,000 members of the police force would be “very beneficial” for the country.

Furthermore, he highlighted the police’s success in tackling BCS admission and job recruitment fraud.

The outgoing IGP further said he had held a zero tolerance policy for militancy, crime and  drugs during his tenure.

Describing the coronavirus situation as “battle,” the outgoing IGP said police had begun preparations to fight it from January.

“Police are going to people from door to door and have tried to make people aware. But we had to face great difficulty finding the expatriates, as many were not at the addresses stated in their passports,” he added.  

“It was a great battle to keep them in home-quarantine. We, along with public representatives, have been doing it from the beginning,” he further said.  

He said the initiative to run a helpline, 999, has brought about 20 million calls and over 5,800,000 people had been served.