1. LAW AND REFORM
The Role of Legitimacy in Police Reform
and Effectiveness
Shanna Tova O’Reilly
Global Practice Specialist II, DAI

2. Case Study: Bangladesh National Police
• Country context
• British colonial rule and its impact on police culture
• Varied attempts at police reform
• Community policing: strengths, flaws and challenges
• Does importing western models even work?
• Issues of legitimacy and social cohesion
• Summary and recommendations

3. Bangladesh Context
• South Asian majority Muslim
• 166 million people, 8th most
populous
• 9.15 common crimes per 100,000
•
• Rates equivalent to major US city
• However, increasing ethnic and
politically based violence

4. Country Politics
• “Criminalization of Politics”
• The historical role of public protests (hartals)
• Increase in violence results in economic costs
• Enter party politics with law enforcement as an extension of
the political apparatus

5. The Impact of British Colonial Rule
• Current policing originates in 200 years of British rule
• Police as a state arm to amass power
• Goal is not to serve and protect citizens
• Police power situated in state government
• Nationally: Inspector General (IGP) responds to ministry
• Locally: Sub-Inspector (SI) to district commissioner (DC)
• The 1861 Police Act

6. But Who are the Police?
• Centralized force of 150,000 under Home Affairs Ministry
• IGP supported by 9 Additional Inspector Generals (AIGs)
• Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs)
• Central Investigative Division (CID)
• Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)
• Ratio of 1 officer: 1,000 citizens
(1/3 UN recommended)
• 80% constables, 5.24% female

7. Police Culture
• Highly politicized budget (420 million USD annual) and
operations
• Frequent premature transfer of officers limits relationships
• According to TI, 84% of citizens see police as the most
corruption institution
“A rickshaw puller can make more in a day than some
officers. Its foolish to expect a police officer to
adequately perform his duties – or distance himself
from corruption for that matter – when his primary
concern is making financial ends meet.”

8. Police Culture
• Illegal detention, death in custody, torture, corruption,
refusal to file reports w/o payment
“The local police station would not accept our GDs
(General Diary Reports), nor would the police
investigate the crime simply because ‘their hands were
tied’ and advised ‘not to poke their nose’ in to the
criminal affairs of the BNP leader (advisor to then PM
Khaleda Zia), thus allowing eviction of 16 tenant
families from our properties and later demolition of ten
homes built by my father.”

9. Why Some of this Happens: Conditions
• Constables enter with 3 months training
• Erratic 14 – 16 hour shifts and very few days off
• Significant administrative / political duties
• Limited amount of citizen engagement
• However, highly visible in community
• Monthly salary: 5,500 – 23,000 taka (70 - 300 USD)
• Out of pocket: fuel, bikes, rickshaws, stationary, snacks

10. Police Reform Programme (PRP)
• 2007 Police Act
• Creation of Crime Prevention Center
• 2012 – 2014 1st Strategic Planning
• Community policing as an integral concept (directives,
forums, assigned officers)
• Actors: UNDP, USAID, GIZ, NGOs like Asia Foundation
• Challenges in adapting to the local context:
• Well-intentioned efforts can face practical challenges such as
political co-optation
• What works in one place, doesn’t elsewhere (e.g. equipment)
• Training – how do I know my community policing is the same as
yours (e.g. force multiplier)?

11. Does Importing Western Models Work?
• 518 communities saw 24% improvement in citizen
perceptions / trust
• 95% of officers saw an increase in understanding of
importance of citizen relations
• Significant increase in quality community policing activities
• Or, is this the right question…

12. Summary and Recommendations
• Collective efficacy thru citizen networks (e.g. demand side)
to enhance legitimacy / accountability
• Wider structural efforts are needed to support community
policing and reform
• As we saw yesterday, its not enough to simply provide
training, how is that training adapted to “real life”
• (e.g. citizen-police partnerships can have multiple interpretations)
• What institutional incentives are put in place to reinforce
that effort over the long-term
• …And, it’s a moving, constantly changing target.