Staff Reporter :
Nearly 92 per cent respondents of an opinion poll carried out by the Police Reform Commission (PRC) have sought reforms of the interrogation in police custody, criticizing the existing practice of torture during grilling that often lead to suspects deaths.
Correspondingly, 89.5 per cent of population supports the depoliticisation of the country’s police force while 75 per cent demanding action against officers accused of using excessive force while dealing with protest marches and suppressing opposition parties and incidents like enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Those opinions came as the survey was conducted among 24,442 randomly selected people under a study headlined “What kind of police do we want” (kemon police chai) between Oct 31 and Nov 15.
Ninety-one point seven respondents replied positively, while only 8.3 per cent said “no” on the question on interrogation in police custody.
The survey also highlighted that 42 per cent of the participants were not satisfied with the services of the Victim Support Centre, and 45.8 per cent were unhappy with community and beat policing activities.
At least 44.9 per cent of the respondents considered the online GD programme to be unsatisfactory.
Further, 38.4 per cent of respondents expressed their discontent with the services of the “Women, Children, Elderly and Disabled Desk”.
The survey also found that 35.5 per cent felt the helplines for women to combat cybercrime were unsatisfactory.
Moreover, among the various public-facing activities of the police, 56.6 per cent said that the service of the “National Emergency Service 999” was satisfactory, 32.4 per cent expressed satisfaction with the online police clearance programme, while 44.9 per cent of the respondents said that they were dissatisfied with it.
Meanwhile, the Police Reform Commission was formed following a Cabinet Division notification on Oct 3, with former secretary Safar Raj Hossain appointed as its head.
The nine-strong commission, which includes a student representative, was tasked with recommending measures to create a “public-friendly, accountable, skilled, and impartial” police force.
The commission is expected to submit its final report to the chief advisor within 90 days.
