Open House Day helps make police accountable
BSS
The Open House Day, introduced nine years ago, plays a pivotal role in making police accountable to people and in ensuring participation of commoners in policing and helps to maintain law and order and curb crimes, reports BSS.
Open House Day is the lone system where police officers would have to face people directly and reply to their quarries, deputy commissioner (DC) Md Farid Uddin of Wari Division told the news agency yesterday.
The system is helping to make policemen accountable as people from the cross-section of the society even put forward different irregularities of the police and force cops to take prompt action against them after receiving such allegations.
Sufferings of the commoners and crimes have lessened manifold with introduction of the programme, he said, adding that they even get ideas about the real law and order situation of the locality which help them take next course of action.
Open House Day was introduced in 2007 through the police reform programme under the Community Policing Policy. Police hold the Day once a month on any Saturday with commoners and people get chance of talking directly to their respective police stations about their problems.
Allegations of various types of social crimes such as torture on women and children, dowry, drug trading, extortion, and harassment of commoners by the police usually dominates the Open House Day discussion.
The system has been introduced aimed at ensuring police-people participation in all thesocial issues including checking crimes. The police headquarters has directed all concerned to remain alert so that no criminal could get involved in the programme.
All the police stations across the country have been asked to hold the Open House Day once a month.
