Development Administration and The Local Police

The tradition and history have handed down a role to Police which leaves much to be desired. The role of Police has shrunk considerably over the years and it has come to be confined to narrow grooves of maintenance of status quo. The traditionalists among Police officers, as elsewhere, are averse to assigning any fresh reponsibility to Police. They are wary of doing so mainly because the tradition forbids it and further because they have not done it. The most relevant cry for ‘development’ these days is such a situation which has cast many a social and economic concept afresh, which has unhinged many a relation from their joints. Development means all-round growth of human society and human being – it is a kaleidoscopic phenomenon. Peace and order constitute the basic infrastructure for development. It is here that Police comes in as an active partner in forging the all-round development. Police can not, and should not, remain a passive spectator to the process of change. It should, on the other hand, move hand in hand with other agencies of development. Police has, therefore, a changed role in a developing society and policemen must be made to realise and discharge their new responsibility. This book thus, poses a most relevant question: Has Police a role in the process of development? If yes, what are the areas where it can play a positive and constructive role in such a process? The book examines various aspects of Police organisation and working with a view to indentifying such areas. The nature of crime has also not remained unaffected on the onset of the process of development; it has on the other hand, acquired new shapes and dimensions as a by-product of the engine of development. There is thus the necessity, nay, inescapability to redefine the role of Police. It must be reoriented re-shaped in order to become a constructive tool of development. The book is unorthodox in its approach and innovative in its treatment.the author’s findings, which are based on an objective theoretical analysis and empirical derivations are likely to create a shock and a flutter in many quarters; there will be many eyebrows raised, but the author has raised a pertinent issue all the same.

Dr. Anil Kumar Pandey (born 1994), a teacher-turned Policeman, graduated withHonours in English after which he obtained M.A. degree in English literature. Currently he is serving as D.I.G., Railways (Bihar), Patna. Earlier he served as S.P. in various districts of Bihar and D.I.G., Magadh Range, Gaya. Essentiallya student of literature, Dr. Pandey has evinced keen interest in social sicences too. Development of the country has been the central theme of his interest and studies. He has been a popular Police officer in Bihar. His unbroken spell of field postings for nearly 16 years offered him an opportunity of living with the problems of common people and the present work is the fruit of his patient and painstaking study of the people’s problems and the role of Police in solving them. He received a number of distinctions including the prestigious President’s Police Medal for Gallantry which was awarded to him in 1983. A firm believer in the reorientation of Police in the service of the people, he has done his bit in diversifying the role of Police, in opening up new vistas to it and in exposing Police to new socialand economic challenges.