CRITICAL aspects of the militancy challenge — recruiting professional talent and addressing training gaps — are often overlooked. Militants keep pace with technological changes, but LEAs, rooted in histories where colonial powers established police forces to enforce compliance rather than serve the public, are reluctant to accept change. Recruitment standards should align with security, sociopolitical and cultural dynamics. Police departments adhere to a numerical model, when they need both numerical and technology-driven models.

Constables make up a significant part of the police force. Before Police Order 2002, recruitment focused mainly on physical fitness, allowing illiterate candidates to join. But the demand for educated constables has increased. Each province has its own hiring criteria. Earlier at the district SP’s discretion, post-PO 2002, constables’ recruitment was assigned to senior officers’ teams. To ensure transparency, KP outsourced entry test to NTS but could not attract the needed talent. Pakistan’s police forces recruit mainly at the constable, ASI and ASP level; provinces rarely recruit DSPs and inspectors directly. Focusing on physical tests, hiring may overlook intelligence, ethics, judgement and........

© Dawn