Police Reform Commission Chairman Safar Raz Hossain on Sunday said they would prepare suggestions that include bringing amendments to 150-year -old police laws to reform Bangladesh Police to make it a time-befitting, pro-people and service oriented force.
“We have to build a good police force for a democratic country and its main tasks will be to serve the masses,” he said while speaking to journalists at the Home Ministry, Secretariat here.
Replying to a question, Home Adviser Lt Gen Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (Rtd) said they would extend all possible support to reform the police.
The chairman said they would include the best practices in the police reform proposals being followed by police in different democratic countries.
“We have an idea about how police works in different democratic countries. We would try to include the best practices of those countries in the police reform proposals,” he said. Replying to a query whether they could submit the proposals within three months timeframe, Safar Raz Hossain said they would try to accomplish their tasks within the stipulated time.
“We are working five days a week in the Home Ministry to finalise the proposals in stipulated time,” he said.
He said the Bangladesh Police have been running by a 150-year-old law, The Police Act 1861 and Police Regulations, Bengal, 1943.
“These laws are too old. No major changes have been made to the laws,” he said.
The commission would hold talks with the people, who have been working on the laws to bring necessary changes to those. Apart from these, he said, the commission has a plan to take opinions from the stakeholders such as civil society personnel, experts, media personalities, students and teachers of the universities, general people and police to formulate a set of suggestions for reforming the police.
“We would just suggest the government what changes need to be made in various sections of the police laws to make those time-befitting and modern ones,” he said.
Police constituted the full Police Reform Commission led by former home secretary Safar Raz Hossain on October 3 last and it has been given 90 days to accomplish the tasks.
Other members of the committee are Additional Home Secretary (public security division) Abu Momtaj Sad Uddin Ahmed, Director General of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) Mohammad Iqbal, former divisional commissioner Mohammad Harun Chowdhury, former additional inspector generals of police Sheikh Sajjad Ali and Md Golam Rasul, Dhaka University Law Department Professor Shahnaz Huda, human rights activist ASM Nasiruddin Alan and a student representative.
