A Factsheet of Police Reform Programme

The Challenge

To build an efficient and effective police force as an integral part of the broader justice sector and as a key contributor to a safer and more secure environment based on respect for human rights, equitable access to justice and observance of the rule of law.

Aim of the project

The strengthening Bangladeh Police , a police reform programme(PRP), aims at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Bangladesh Police by supporting area of access to justice; including crime prevention, investigations, police operations and prosecutions; human resource management and training; and, future directions, and strategic capacity and oversight.

Rational for a Police Reform Programme( PRP) to support the Bangladesh Police

• Significant problems exists with law and order, rule of law and access to justice in Bangladesh, and these issues adversly impact on the poor and vulnerable especially women and young people;
• The problems are so profound that they have serious implications for the social and economic well being of Bangladesh; and,
• The Police  alone cannot solve these problems and need to work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, relevant of Ministries, other agencies in the broader criminal justice sector, civil society, development partners and community.

Problems to be addressed

• Shortfalls in supervisoryand managerial competence;
• Police are under-resourced and under-trained;
• lack of specialised technical capacity to deal with emerging crimes;
•  Lack of confidence in the police expressed by many members of the community, civil society and business;
• Lack of sensitivity by the police on the plight of victims of crime, particularly women, young people, minorities, the landless poor, street people and other vulnarable groups;
 
• The management and and effective operations of the police is adversly impacted by external influences with great regularity;
• The low number of women police and their low representation in decision making position
• The police having a propensity to focus on protocol, ceremonial and static security tasks at the expense of core duties;
• The machinary of policing has nor evolved over time and does not meet the needs of present -day Bangladesh;
• Inefficiency in the use of police resources and lack of competency by officers performing many critical functions without adequate(or any) training;
• The existence of opportunistic and institutional corruption in a range of shapes and forms;
• Generally low motivation and and morale linked to low pay, poor working conditions, and limited promotion prospects, especially at the lower level; and,
• Inadequate overall strategic planning , including human resource and career development, transparency and accountability of function, and sustainability of operations.
• Widespread abuse of authority, whilst and accountability and transparency are lacking.  

Steps to implement the phase 1 of SBP

1. Step 1: Preparatory Assistance
2. Step 2: Needs Assesment
3. Project support document
4. Detailed design and implementation

Key Programme components

Component 1: Crime prevenion

                       This component is designed to improve police-community engagement and create an environment that facilitates prevention of crimeand equitable access to justice. This includes development of a national crime prevention strategy with a gender and human rights perspective.