Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
We have a big policing problem in Kabul. It is as if law enforcement agencies are in hibernation as criminals and thieves are exulting in their unbridled freedom in absence of rule of law. Crime and mayhem has crept in every nook and cranny of Kabul. The city has become a hotbed of crime, theft, burglary, and exceedingly dangerous as if offenders are uncontrollable renegades and there is no stopping them. People continue to be mugged and sometimes even murdered for resisting the thieves in the dark corners of the city.
Offences have seen a stratospheric rise in recent months and law enforcement seems in shreds because of corruption and other deterrents. The killing of a newly graduated student in Kabul by armed robbers has sparked a wave of cyber protests. Citizens of Kabul have been complaining in recent days about the indiscriminate increase in murders resulting from criminal offenses.
Policing activities are incapacitated by fraud, dereliction of duty, collusion with criminals, and poor execution of law and order. Administrative shortcomings within the police force have taken criminal activities out of police control. Police recruitment is partly fraught with nepotism and rent-seeking. The police neglect a crime and acquit themselves upon seeing an obvious criminal incident. The police complicity with thieves and the negligence of security authorities has become a serious problem that has raised hackle among citizens who continue to bear the brunt. Lack of committed and experienced cadres has also led to the highest possible criminal activity. Some accuse high-ranking individuals, even among the police, of supporting thieves, which per se aggravate criminal offenses.
This all rings the terrifying alarm bells of a failing policing system. Police reforms, improved training, stricter policing policies are the need of the hour.
