Annual Report - Police Reform Programme

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Police Reform Programme (Phase-II) Executive Summary Bangladesh is a developing nation and a fledgling democracy. Since the early 1990's, steady economic growth resulted in rapid gains in human development. Despite noteworthy achievements in various fields, including law and order, crime and corruption remain serious problems adversely affecting individual safety, national security, and continuous economic expansion. Therefore, an accountable, transparent, and efficient police service is essential in Bangladesh for the safety and wellbeing of all citizens, in addition to national stability and long-term growth and development. Once achieved, this positive setting will contribute to the creation of a secure environment which is conducive to consumer and investor confidence. Within this context, UNDP leads in efforts to harmonise support to the Justice Sector and has integrated the Police Reform Programme (PRP) into these efforts. The PRP provides the Bangladesh Police with much needed technical and financial assistance for reformation with development goals centring on a safer, more secure and stable Bangladesh, where the human rights of citizens-particularly the vulnerable and marginalised-are promoted and protected in order to accelerate progress on the MDGs, economic growth, and social justice. The PRP aims to improve safety, access to justice and human rights for the people of Bangladesh, particularly disadvantaged and vulnerable groups such as women and children who are considered the PRP's target beneficiaries. The police service will additionally benefit from increased capacity and job satisfaction, improved morale and better social standing. The following section summarises key achievements and progress made during 2012 against expected strategic results. Strategic Policy Work Following the dissemination of two PRP comparative legal studies' findings, there has been noticeable increase in support for the reform of the Bangladesh Police Act 1861, including supportive public statements made by the Prime Minister, Senior Secretary of the MoHA, IGP, and the National Project Director (NPD). Additionally, a Police Working Group formed by the IGP and chaired by the NPD, is reviewing the 2007 draft Police Ordinance, following the draft's return from the Ministry of Home Affairs. A draft Gender and Anti-discrimination Policy for the Bangladesh Police is currently being finalised. With PRP support, the Bangladesh Police Women's Network established four regional coordinating committees on gender and has appointed regional focal points. Those committees will provide regional forums advocating for gender equality, raising awareness on issues affecting women police, and providing support to women officers. The completion of the Bangladesh Police Strategic Plan 2012-2014 establishes organizational priorities for the next three years and identifies three key PRP documents among its key sources, namely the Baseline Survey on Personal Security and Police Performance in Bangladesh, 'Sustainable Police Reform in Bangladesh: from Global Experiences to Local Strategies' and the Report on the Heads of Training Conference. Development Results Within the Bangladesh Police, the ratio of women police officers increased significantly in the last three years. During 2012, a total of 1,524 women were recruited into the Bangladesh Police, representing 11.88% of the annual number of recruits in 2012-525 more than in 2011. A day-care centre, operated by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, was established at the Rajarbag Police Lines in Dhaka, providing a safe and secure environment for up to fifty police officers' children. The PRP supported a ToT initiative on gender awareness, allowing trainers to successfully conduct twenty-one gender orientation workshops for 1,007 police officers. 08 Annual Report 2012
Police Reform Programme (Phase-II) The Rangamati Victim Support Centre (VSC) was established in 2012 under the guidance of the PRP to provide support services for women and child victims, in a similar arrangement to the already established Tejgaon VSC in Dhaka. The Rangamati and Dhaka centres, staffed by the Bangladesh Police, provided assistance to 498 victims 1 while the PRP continues construction on six new victim support centres. The Government of Bangladesh announced that they will establish Victim Support Centres at the district level, fulfilling their commitment to replicate the victim support model, while the Ministry of Home Affairs also included provisions in its mid-term budget for victim support centres. This recurrent budget allocation to victim support functions is an important factor for the sustainability of such programmes. The Bangladesh Police additionally established the Women Support and Investigation Division (WSID) in the Dhaka Victim Support Centre. During 2012, WSID investigated 303 cases under the Women and Repression Act 2000, amended in 2003. A total of 1,679 investigators, accounting for about 17% of all investigators, were trained in crime scene management and basic investigations while 136 court officers were trained during 2012. This training was supplemented by the provision of crime scene kits to one hundred (16.6%) police stations, enabling trained investigators to collect an increasing amount of evidence from crime scenes, shifting from confession-based to evidence-based investigations. The Forensic Training Institute (FTI) consistently utilises the PRP training curricula while PRP-trained facilitators deliver training programmes to police supervisors, highlighting the PRP's sustainable approach to capacity building. The Detective Training School (DTS) and the 24 Hour Help Desks in PHQ and DMP have also been renovated by the PRP, becoming better resourced and equipped and allowing the DTS and the 24 Hour Help Desk to provide professional services to their clients. Construction of fifteen new Model Thana Service Delivery Centres is approximately 75% completed. The PRP handed over six fully constructed Model Thanas to the Bangladesh Police which serve as blueprints for future Thanas with improved facilities, including women's sleeping quarters, separate toilets for women and separate cells for males, females and juveniles. PRP-trained facilitators instructed Model Thana staff, resulting in 253 police officers completing training on Crime Scene Management, writing up effective GD and FIRs, Community Policing issues, Gender, Basic Investigation, Victim Support, Human Rights, and Conflict Resolution, among others. A total of 278 Community Policing Forums (CPFs) were strengthened through distributing grants to support CPF initiatives. A rapid assessment was conducted in 2012 to explore the CPFs' effectiveness under direct support and found that financial support significantly impacted CPF activities, resulting in the reduction of crime in their jurisdictions. A total of 147 respondents, including respective Superintendents of Police, Community Policing Officers and CPF members, were of the opinion that, overall, law and order in these jurisdictions improved and that the relationship between the community and the police increased over time. Self-initiated community policing forums are also demonstrating a high degree of national ownership. A comprehensive training needs assessment, focusing on twenty-four Model Thanas, was completed as part of the revision of the Bangladesh Police training programmes. Additionally, PRP renovated Khulna's Police Training Centre and established a new training academy in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Station, improving infrastructure and providing an enhanced environment for police training. 1 The most common types of crimes and issues reported were domestic violence, sexual assault, dowry-related violence, trafficking, early marriage, street/runaway children at risk and maltreatment of domestic servants. Annual Report 2012 09
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Annual Report - Police Reform Programme

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