PoliceViolenceinPakistan FormsandJustifications
PoliceViolenceinPakistan FormsandJustifications
PoliceViolenceinPakistan FormsandJustifications
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Abstract
Police force is regarded as one of the most important internal security forces given a mission to monitor law and
order situation in the country and curb any sort of violent or criminal activities. The term "Police Violence" it-
self sounds awkward and contradictory, but it refers to a situation where allegedly this law enforcing agency is
involved in violating rights of the public and is involved in some sort of misuse or over use of its powers, hence
troubling the general public in one way or the other. This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with
different stakeholders (including the Police force it-self) identified by the researchers and tries to integrate their
responses and explore different forms of such alleged violence and importantly investigate potential
circumstances where this over use of power is justified or is given protection. Different stakeholders have
different opinion on the subject under study.
Keywords: Police Violence, State, Politicians, Governance, Rule of Law, Legitimacy, Qualitative Research.
1. Introduction
Violence is that aspect of any culture which is always discouraged by sane elements of the society. Violent
behavior is seen as deviant and a taboo in majority scenarios. Violence may have several forms in general i.e.
extending from simple verbally aggressive comments to physically violating someone’s boundary.
Police violence is described as excessive use of force by the Police. There is not much distinction
available as to what excessive use is and what appropriate use is (Lersch et al. 2005). This ambiguity results in
some stakeholders claiming the use of force as legitimate.
In Pakistan, the phenomenon of police brutality is not new to the general public; “rather the police
department has over the years become a symbol of fright and terror that gives rise to feelings of mistrust and
helplessness in the common man” (Lead-Pakistan).
In many societies this violence is considered a legitimate means of asserting power, establishing order,
disciplining, and punishing the wrong doers.
Unfortunately, violence and intolerance is increasing in Pakistan and therefore requires to be addressed.
We come across stories and incidents in print and electronic media regarding violence and illegitimate force used
by Police every now and then. There are several forms of this phenomenon and as per literature Police Violence
is not just limited to beating protestors and use of tear gas but it also includes torture led killings in police custody
and importantly extra judicial killings.
The research is significant in Pakistani context because, firstly this area has not been addressed as far
as research or empirical evidence is concerned. This study helps in understanding what are different forms of
police violence, what are the motivations for such actions and importantly how and when this apparently a
negative action be justified and approved by competent authorities i.e. is the law silent on this issue; is the law
manipulated when it comes to personal interests of stakeholders (particularly politicians in government) and, is
use of force and power the only sources to ensure discipline.
2. Literature Review
One key task or decision sensitivity police official’s face on duty is to decide on the use of level of force to
ensure law and order prevails (Bittner, 1970). According Reiss (1971), “Police brutality” can be regarded as a
broader concept when it comes to abuse of Power by this law enforcement agency, which may include, use of
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extreme power and practice that defames or embarrasses the citizens’ repute, “that restricts their freedom, and
that annoys or harasses them”.
As per the researcher’s narrow exposure, limited research work exits as far as definition and forms of
Police Violence are concerned. More data or information is available in terms of online blogs, newspaper articles
and different Non-Governmental Organization websites. According to one such source i.e. website of a law firm
“The Cochran Firm” Police Brutality may include, “Unnecessary physical violence, Unnecessary and degrading
strip searches, Sexual assault, Coercion, blackmail or other uses of police power to force you into doing
something you don’t want to do and Racial profiling”.
Cohen and Chaiken (1972) found that age and violent behavior are related, i.e. aged officers are likely
to be more involved in violence rather than younger officers. Behaviors they observed included complaints on
the lines of discourtesy and also of racism.
Herzog (2000) in his study on Israeli police concluded that more complaints are received against police
officers that operate at operational and investigative functions, precisely middle and low rank officers.
Lersch et al. (2005) in their research on violent police behavior discussed the theory of rotten apples”.
This theory advocates that a bunch of police individuals involved in violent behaviors or misconduct are the
reason due to which entire police unit is considered to be bad. But this explanation is often used by senior police
personnel as a defense against blames on them.
Sociological discussion of “subculture” provides another explanation for excessive use of power.
Advocates of this perspective (Skolnick, 1966; Stark, 1972; Westley, 1970) suggest that there are
certain norms, values and regulatory expectations that provide officers with rationale to indulge in such actions.
Prenzler et al. (2013) comes up with a strategy to control police violence. Researchers suggest that ensuring
police accountability and discipline in the force can help in reducing or controlling police
violence.
Another idea to control Police Violence can be extracted from the study by Steffensmeier (1979),
where it was concluded that induction of female officers in Police department led to decrease in complaints of
excessive use of force contributing to overall reduction in police violence. Moreover, female officers were not
perceived as threatening and “horrific” to the general public.
Community policing as used in some areas in the United States can be a tool to reduce police
misconduct. Community policing actions involve door to door contacts with local residents, neighborhood watch
programs and accessible police stations (Lersch et al. 2005).
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Strategy
The research strategy adopted for study is “Qualitative”. This is a set of non- statistical inquiry techniques and
processes used to gather data about something, may it be a social phenomenon or an organizational structure
(McNabb, 2002).
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O Members of the Provincial Legislature were interviewed, because in Pakistan Law and Order is
a provincial subject
• Print and Electronic Media Journalists
• Victims
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live examples exhibited at each check post or police station on daily basis.
• Misuse of the ‘Police’ label
O Some of the respondents came up with another description of Police Violence, where
physical use of force or physical challenge to the other person is not involved. As per an
Electronic Media journalist:
“Another form of corruption in which I have observed Police officials are involved is
the use of terror (of power) to the poor salesmen and snatching of their products… Fruit and
Vegetable stalls in markets are the main victims of such aggressions.”
According to the respondents, other small scale demonstrations of use of the Police Label is
observed when for instance queues are violated at any place, rash driving on roads without
emergency (which at times results in vehicles to vehicle hit and run) and bad gestures and
again abusive language when the Police is escorting any VIP.
5. Conclusion
The purpose of this research activity was not to spread negative information about Police Agencies in Pakistan,
nor getting into any propaganda to malign this state institution. Police amongst other law enforcing agencies is
the most important wing of the state that is directly related and involved in and is responsible for internal security
of the country. Police Force is the basic tool of the state that is assigned the task of ensuring peace and law and
order in the country from cities to towns and from towns to villages. When Police itself is accused of
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violating rules of business and is blamed for misusing its authority by violating fundamental rights of citizens,
then an attention to the subject is required. The term ‘Police Violence’ itself seems to be unjust, but is being used
widely to discuss and study the phenomenon being examined in this paper.
The paper basically highlighted different ways or forms in which allegedly Police goes beyond its
authority (where this red-line is difficult to establish). Following this objective, different scenarios or
justifications have been explored for legitimizing use of excessive force. As per this study, Legitimacy of Police
Violence is usually gained from Politicians or Administrative Rulers i.e. when Politicians get involved into some
sort of institutional decision making and try to interfere in Police affairs and use them for their interests and the
Police knows that later these ‘Law Makers’ or ‘Rulers’ will bail them out in one way or the other. If the Police
Officials refuse to adhere to such commands (via illegitimate authority) then they know they will be either
transferred or removed from service. To sum up this aspect, as mentioned earlier, ‘Nexus for Evil’ and
‘Legitimacy from Powerful’ rather than the Law is the reason behind many malpractices in the Public Sector.
7. Research Ethics
Due to the sensitivity of issue, researchers have tried to consider all the ethical guidelines while conducting
research. Firstly, the privacy and anonymity of respondents has been ensured. Secondly, while interviewing
victims questions refreshing bad memories were avoided to a maximum extent. Lastly, no deliberate factual
distortion of data in order to achieve desired results or to conform to popular public opinion or going against an
institution has been done.
8. Bibliography
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Asif, M. (n.d.). Violence against Women in Pakistan: Role of Police and Media. M Phil Scholar in Sociology.
Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore- Pakistan.
BarkawI, T., & Laffey, M. (2006). The postcolonial moment in security studies. Review of International Studies,
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Cohen, B., & Chaiken, J. M. (1972). Police background characteristics and performance: Summary. New York,
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