URGENT PRESS STATEMENT
RE: POLICE REFORMS WATCH AND CHRI DEMANDS APPOINTMENT OF THE MUMBAI POLICE COMMISSIONER WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY. STOP PLAYING POLITICS IN THIS APPOINTMENT. TO AVOID AD-HOCISM LIKE THIS WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE IMPLEMENTION OF POLICE REFORMS. Police Reforms Watch [PRW] and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative [CHRI] are extremely dismayed at the delay in appointing the Police Commissioner for Mumbai. The city's police force has been headless for the last 5 days.This is bound to result in less effective policing, making the city more vulnerable to crime and public order problems. Better policing, with the best leadership in place, is the need of the hour every hour. We demand that the Government of Maharashtra [CONGRESS /NCP] must stop playing politics and make this appointment immediately.We reiterate that the state government has not complied fully with the 2006 Supreme Court directives on police reform. The directive which spells out a process to appoint the police chief in a more transparent manner on the basis of objective criteria has not been complied with at all. Police Reforms Watch and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative therefore urges the state government to comply fully with the Supreme Court directives. We also urge that the Police Commissioner is appointed with no more delay and at least on the basis of objective criteria in the absence of a process for selection. The need for police reform is very urgent for our city and our state. But this can only be police reform which is worthy of a democracy and speaks to the needs of the public. We will make this an election issue for the forthcoming 2014 elections. warm regards, Dolphy Elma Dsouza - 9820226227 Convenor POLICE REFORMS WATCH 43, Kalina, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400 029. Email: policereformswa...@gmail.com
