In the Line of Duty

Context: The phenomenon of high casualties among police personnel in the line of duty must be probed and addressed.

Reasons behind High Police Casualty Rate

• Inadequate training: adversely impacts operational capability of police personnel.
• Only 6.4% of police constables had received training in the last five years.
• Fatigue: is negatively associated with reaction time, watchfulness, focus, situational awareness and psychometric synchronisation. Reasons being: 
• Average working hours: more than 13 to 14 hours.    
• Stress: including both job stress and situational stress which has a curvilinear relationship with performance 

• Negative stressors: in the form of departmental inquiries and workplace maltreatment

• Inadequate Preparation: for low probability events exposes risk of predictability of police tactics by criminals.
• Planning operations must involve: 

• Assessing unique scenarios caused by novel threats.
• Striking a balance between tech-intelligence and human intelligence.

• Lack of special drills and greater reliance on district police instead of special units (like STF) compounds the issue of high casualties.
• Reduced force visibility: Attire, perceived preparedness to act and weapon visibility are critical deterrents. 

• Police usually follows a doctrine of minimum proportionate force.

• Fear of collateral damage: as it may result in negative career outcomes and a cumbersome litigation process against police personnel.

• Breach of confidentiality within the force: criminals with prior access to information make the police’s task more difficult. 

• Identifying and marking the “canaries” in the system is essential for counter-intelligence also.

Way Forward: Ensure following:

• Increased emphasis on training
• Psychological assessments
• Creation of specialised units
• Positive reinforcement
• Motivation contagion modules
• Separate legal insurance
• Focus on bearing