Kerala police is broken and the malaise is systemic at the core
There is a crisis in policing in Kerala and the reasons for it goes much deeper than the usual political causes. Of course, this is not to deny the most obvious: the leadership vacuum created by an increasingly tunnel visioned, ageing and rarely questioned chief minister keeping far too many key portfolios under his belt and an undeniable degradation of leadership quality within the police itself starting with a boisterous and continued with a pliant — two otherwise capable career policemen unfortunately out of touch with the complex ground realities of the state and chained by their ever so willingness to please the masters. However, can the recent embarrassing incidents involving policemen and the excesses be attributed solely to the aforementioned obvious? No!. I am surprised by what the media, political commentators and social observers haven’t yet presented a nuanced view beyond the usual political mudslinging and trolling. Maybe they are far too embroiled in the minutiae and are failing to see the big picture. This brings me back to my original thesis statement: There is a crisis in policing in Kerala and it is systemic, not merely political in etiology. I will argue my case in as few words as I can.
Police force in Kerala has been made to forget it’s original calling. No longer is the force a battle ready razor sharp body devoted to it’s original mission of preserving law and order. Unfortunately it has been mutated in to a delusional omnipotent, omnipresent ‘magic’ force out to chase the virus, perform charity and even counsel school children. While the initial police deployment to ‘enforce’ Covid protocols was acceptable, the prolonged application has damaged the force.
An occasional public relation outreach can bolster the image of the force but when image building and public relations become a pillar of policing it is indeed a mutation. Oh yes, the cyber policing is all good but when police themselves are charged with talking to children and parents the mutation continues. As a result, Kerala Police, I must regretfully state, has lost it’s focus. While this is indeed damaging there is a far greater issue: police men and women believing they can do anything and are not accountable. This is a an extension of the lack of focus — when one loses focus and is saddled with tasks not in concordance with the core of what they were originally called for, it is easy to veer in to erroneous super(wo)man behavior. Unfortunately this malaise has spread from top to bottom of the force. Remember the DGP sitting on Monson’s thrown accosted by the DIG flashing the sword? Oh we laughed over the trolls and endlessly debated the issue in social media but did we notice the deeper fault line? Remember the civil police officer publicly accusing a hapless kid of stealing her cell phone? There are many more instances but the malaise is the same. The last 2 years of dilution has been damaging. However I shudder to think what will happen in 2 years if this is not reversed immediately — the longer this continues the faster the state of Kerala will be turned in to a lawless land. Only silver lining will be that journalists will then need not look to the great northern plain to spice up the broadsheets with badland stories.
Wake up Now. The malaise is systemic. There is no point in plugging leaks as and when they happen. Stop using police to fill up the gaps in the system elsewhere. For starters, do whatever it takes to strengthen public health services. Demand a dedicated minister for law and order or at least ask the chief minister to lighten his portfolio. Send off the chief with thanks and find a professional man or woman to re-focus, re-train and re-invigorate. Save the state.
