The home minister’s statement that Bangladesh police are more efficient than before at ensuring the security of the common people is reassuring. That is indeed the most important litmus test that a police force ought to pass.
To that end, the minister’s statement will hopefully work as a motivation for the police force to apply their training and prove that they are in fact more efficient at making the public feel safe. The minister's statement is also a much needed public proclamation by a high official about the police’s role that needs to happen more often. And these should not be limited to special occasions.
The minister rightly attributed greater efficiency to training. The police are the most important part of law enforcement, and that is why it is crucial that they receive regular training to improve and to ensure that they are able to adopt and implement best practices from around the world.
Needless to say, the hard part is to ensure that the training transfers well to the actual day-to-day conduct. To achieve that, the police force must have a very robust internal quality assurance mechanism and accountability system. The Bangladesh Police in recent years took initiatives to train female police officers. This is particularly encouraging because a more visible presence of female police officers has been proven to help build better trust in the police force, particularly in relation to gender-based violence issues.
The government should not be complacent with the progress already made, but aim to make the police force better constantly and provide high-quality service to the public.
