Dr. Benazir Ahmed’s Initiatives: Bringing the brightest changes in Bangladesh Police

Publish: 6:22 PM, January 7, 2021 | Update: 6:22 PM, January 7, 2021

Al Asad Md. Mahfuzul Islam
Bangladesh Police will take their services at the doorsteps of the citizens. It is not the citizens rather the Police will reach to the people’s doors to hail him with available policing services at hand. This pro-people approach towards our citizens has keenly been introduced by one of the finest son of our soil, globally acclaimed police professional and present incumbent as Inspector General of Police, Bangladesh Dr. Benazir Ahmed, BPM (Bar). Here Michael Jordan is quite relevant, he says, ‘some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.’ Dr. Ahmed has been trying to make it happen since the day one, since the day of his incumbency during the peak of this pandemic. This article, meanwhile, attempts to glimpse over some of his pro-people futuristic initiatives and innovations that have remarkably been bringing the brightest changes within the forces and services to the lives of the people.

Firstly, Dr. Benazir Ahmed BPM (Bar) has introduced and customized Beat Policing here in Bangladesh, from the center to the remotest corners of the country. Due to this approach, Police or the Beat Police Officer will able to provide available policing services to the doorsteps of the citizens. It will quite possible for number of reasons, i.e, smaller jurisdiction, smaller number of people to serve, smaller communications network, smaller stakeholders etc. It is a common phenomenon that a Police officer is overly tasked, as a result fatigue comes in, and focus is lost frequently. To avoid such scenario, Beat Policing is comparably a better option in hand. Being a bookworm, Dr. Ahmed is an extensive reader, henceforth he reads former NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s Book ‘The Turnaround: How America’s Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic’. Here he comes to know how New York City was made crime free through beat by beat, block by block approach and compstat. He urges field police officers to be pied piper of Hamelin for greater social good.

Secondly, in line with the honorable Prime Minister’s priorities, Dr. Ahmed reinforced the zero tolerance policy of drugs and narcotics, in a larger extend, he announced war against illegal drugs. During his tenure as Director General of RAB, he led to coin the term, ‘ cholo jai juddhe, madoker biruddhe.’ He urges every nook and corners to save our successive generations from this scourge of drugs. To achieve this goal, he puts forward extensive and massive coordination, collaboration and partnership with different agencies and citizens. Additionally, he collates, collects and commands internal deep data to differentiate drug addicts within, if any.

Thirdly, corruption cannot be continued, it must be stopped now. In accordance with the magnificence of government priority manifesto and zero tolerance policy on corruption, Dr. Ahmed reminds his colleagues, policing is a service for people, it’s not business. We are delivering services to our ‘citizens’ who are the owner of this State as per our constitution, we are not dealing with ‘customers’ like corporate conglomerates. Meanwhile, policing is not a business platform, and henceforth he conjures up his command staffs to ruthlessly edit your lifestyle as per the government salaries, remuneration and benefits for the common good of our citizens.

Fourthly, winning the hearts of our citizens has remained one of the cornerstone of our service since the direction of the father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. To make this dream into reality, Dr. Benazir Ahmed has relentlessly been inspiring since the day one of his incumbency as Inspector General of Police, Bangladesh. The dissemination of strict command of ‘no harassment’, ‘no discrimination’ to anyone. To him, sometimes, Police role is like Shakespearean Hamlet ‘ cruel to be only kind’, still we should strive to serve our beloved motherland and her citizens. We have to remove all our behavioral barriers as the Persian poet and philosopher Jalaluddin Rumi says ‘ your goal is not to find love, but to remove all barriers which are preventing you from receiving it.’ We must be strict on implementation of laws that are vested on, and obviously must not demonstrate physical or personal strength to implement these laws.

Finally, Dr. Ahmed has been trying from front to transforming Bangladesh Police from conventional conundrum to tech-based, innovative, futuristic organization. As an international leader of organizational change management, he puts forward his vision to reshape Bangladesh Police from retrospective to prospective, aftercare to pre-care of its own staffs and colleagues. Forces welfare is key to motivate employees to serve in significantly and substantively. However, he does not want to blur the grey line between discipline and welfare. He says if our employees are motivated, if they are inspired, the targets that we set forth, will be easily achievable. With his spirit, Arthur Schopenhauer is relevant to mention,’ everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.’

To bring the brightest changes in policing pattern and practices, Dr. Benazir Ahmed’s unique five points in line with the government policies and strategies has already been in place to practice and gradually comes up with effective changes within and beyond. This is why, Bangladesh Police has earned huge hearts from the Nation’s premier HPM, intellectuals, professors and stars in this pandemic. I am sure like Napoleon Hill, ‘ whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can be achieved.’ and so the IGP’s five points is synchronically as well as gradually being achieved for sustainable peace in streamlining with our national aspiration of 2041 here in Bangladesh.

The writer has been serving as Additional Superintendent of Police in Media and Public Relations, Police Headquarters.