Why do police behave in a manner to the
dominant culture? They call indecent expression on people and are not reluctant
to use filthy language during interrogation of suspects during the visit of a
VIP, during patrolling and inquiring into petitions. This is what people speak
of police behavior. They keep people in humiliating dress, parade them in
public visibility in handcuffs employ coercion, torture, third degree methods.
This is what the suspects’ in crimes say about police behavior. They receive
bribe and illegal gratification, concoct evidence in criminal cases and frame
charges; harass people and this is what the courts, commissions research
studies and the press write about the police. Are these allegations true/ if
they are true, why do police do so? An insight into working of the police man’s/officers
psyche becomes necessary to understand this sort of behavior by the police.
Ego and police man /officers
Nobody
is born police man/officer. Everybody become so or is made to be so. When a
person wear the police uniform and assume the responsibilities of a
policeman/officer, it goes without saying that he should behave not in the
manner in which he likes to behave, but in the way he is expected to behave. His
role as a police officer/man is specific as he is not supposed to take up a
role which is not expected to. But, it is often seen that he behaves in an
unbecoming way. Why? In order to answer this question, one may look, into the
working of the police officer’s ego.
Just
like any individual every police officer/man has his own ideas, concept and
feelings about who he is. Such ideas, concepts and feeling are not developed
one day, too soon. Even before a person joins the police department, he forms
ideas and concept about a policeman/officer in his. For some, the role is
glamorous, for others the uniform is attractive; yet for other the role,
uniform, authority and power which the police enjoy may enviable. All these may
form the ego-concepts in an individual who join the service.
Ego
formation after joining the police Service.
After
a person has joined the service as a police officer/man, he starts thinking
that.
“I am a police officer/man holding
the rank of and have lots of power and authority. I can do this or that thing
and there is nobody to question me”
“ I am doing the executive function
of the government and my uniform gives a lot of pseudo authority as well. People
are afraid of me as they think that I am terror in services.”
These
and similar feelings which one entertains to himself constitutes what is called
the ego, in him. These feeling and ideas one may form about himself may be real
or imaginary yet for everyone his ego is really important. It makes him to
think, speak and act in a particular way. And his ways of thinking, speaking or
acting may b acceptable to unacceptable to the dominant culture in society.
Case Study.
1. A constable enters into a privately
owned and operated transport bus. As a passenger, he is expected to purchase
ticket. But he does not , rather get angry with conductor when he is requesting
to purchase a ticket for journey he performs. Here the constable thinks that
people should allow him travel in bus as he is a policeman.
2. A Sub-Inspector gets into a movie theater
with his family members without purchasing tickets. He thinks that he can
afford to do things in the way he likes in his jurisdiction, for according to
him people should honour his authority and power as a police sub-inspector by
giving him and his family free access into theaters.
3. A circle inspector sends a constable
to get a privately owned car from a person doing business in his jurisdiction. The
car is intended for him to go to his wife’s house without paying the rent. The owner
of the car refused to give the car and the inspector openly say ” I will see
you later” and instruct his sub-inspector to harass the owner of the car
Police officers/ men
behave in his way because they have developed an ego’ which is bloated and unrealistic.
People having such imaginary and inflated ego concepts assume pseudo authority
and cause great havoc in this area of jurisdiction.
The Ego of a police
officer has got a conscious part and an unconscious part. It is seen working in
the conscious part of his ego that he has the feeling that he is a police
officer/man with a lot of authority vested in him and should be used only in
the proper way. It is also seen that he entertains in the conscious part of his
ego, the feeling that he should not misuse his authority for personal advantage
or monetary benefits. Do there take place a conflict between these two diametrically
opposed feelings in his ego?
How do these pervert
ideas get into the ego of a police officer/men? It is found that these prevent
conceptions of ego is a learned response. He sees such misuse of authority
being employed by his colleagues and he understands that the sub-culture
existing in police approve of these practices. Though the dominant culture in
the society frowns at these exercises of pseudo- authority, the police sub-culture
does not take serious note of it. It ignores it so much so that the public criticize
the police of their misbehavior Researches conducted in the area of pervert
expressions of police officer/man show that there are many such malpractices
in the operative sphere of police functioning. Some such misbehavior are:
1. Obtaining petrol for police vehicles
for the police think that they can ask the people to do so and threaten them if
they do not. Using taxi-car etc without making any payment or sufficient payment-
for, the police think that the taxi drivers are helpless before the police
authority as the police can harass them in several ways.
2. Taking drinks from bars etc. without
effecting payment for, the bar owners know after effect if the police are not
provided with liquor freely.
3. Taking loan from businessmen in
their jurisdiction without any intention to repay them for they know that for
the profitable conduct of their business even in an illegal illegitimate way,
police need to be humoured.
4. The ego the police can also contain
correct perceptions of human value. Examples are:
a. Duty first and then only relaxation
for the police.
b. Obey the superiors as a responsible
member of the service.
c. Uniform means justice. Nothing less
than just and fair action in police work can do justice to the uniform one
wears.
Politicization and ego formation
Policisation
is the process by which a person is made to become a professional
policemen/officer with desirable personality traits. During the induction
training course, there is a likelihood of inadequate development of correct
ego-concepts. The ego concepts formed in some trainees may be contaminated or
destroyed during the post induction injection by the operational staff in
police department or by the police who center around the police to get many
things done through the police. About this change in the behavioral patterns, the
National Police Commission observe:
a. At the police training college, the
trainees are taught to register all the crimes as soon as they are reported. In
the districts, they were asked to make a preliminary inquiry first and then
record the FIR, after the preliminary inquiry which is entirely illegal.
b. They are told to forget scientific
methods of investigation and resort to third degree though they were reportedly
cautioned not to take it to a stage where there might be an adverse medical
report if the person subjected to third degree was medically examined.
c. In the districts, they were told that
bogus cases under section 190 Cr.PC were essential for record for good statistical
record although they had been warned against this in the police training
college. There goes the list of malpractices to which the new entrants are
introduced.
The police do all these things
thinking rightly or wrongly that they can do it under the pretext of their
authority or under the color of their uniform. They do not seem to have
developed any guilt feelings when they torture people or when they frame bogus
cases against fellow citizens in the country.
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