CCRB ACP says Bengaluru’s lack of officers in general and not just women officials is the city’s main problem.
Bengaluru has only 14.62 percent of women police officers despite Karnataka topping (LINK of the report) the states on delivery of justice in India. This means there are only around 2,000 women officers of the 17,000 police personnel for Bengaluru’s over two crore population. Data from the City Crime Review Bureau (CCRB) shows that there are 17.64 percent women Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCPs), 0.06 percent women Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs), 6.45 percent women Police Inspector (PIs), 19.49 percent women Police Sub-Inspector (PSIs), and 1.16 percent Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASIs).
The India Justice Report (IJR-22) 2022 states that no state or union territory in India has reached the required quota for women police officers. Additional Commissioner of Police for the CCRB, Ahmed Kumar said, “The Bureau of Police Research and Development branch goes through the statistics and sets a required target for police personnel. They make these decisions.” He believes Bengaluru’s lack of officers in general and not just women police officials is the city’s main problem. “We don’t have a proper police-to-population ratio at all. We are still struggling to reach it,” he added. He said that the authorities are more concerned about reaching the police-to-population ratio, and focus less on recruiting woman police officers. “We need women officers for some specific works and for that we have enough.”
He further said the law prescribes women police officers are the only officers who are to act for most women-related matters, especially for arresting and searching. The police units are content as long as there are one or two women police officers for these kinds of jobs.
The IJR-22 ranks Karnataka as top of the country in delivering justice among middle and large-sized states. Tamil Nadu and Telangana follow as the second and third-highest ranking states. The police force is one of the six corridors of justice in the country – the other three being judiciary, State Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid, Prisons, and CCTVs.
Aanya Wig, co-founder and managing director of Her Haq said “Lack of female role models for girls to look up to is one of the reasons why there are fewer women police officials in Karnataka.” She added that this leads to girls taking up jobs that are considered feminine, such as teachers or nurses.
Another possible reason for the lack of representation is the lack of facilities for female police officials such as sanitation which discourages girls from entering this field.
She added that, in order to boost women representation, “A policy around gender equality and including maternity leaves, better sanitation facilities, access to training in police academies and safety during night shifts could help in increasing women participation.”
