ANYBODY can see and sense the helplessness of Traffic Police in Nagpur. No, the purpose here is not to defend the cops and show them as symbols of goodness. They, too, have their own failings, all right. On occasions, they are slack and even indifferent to their own mandated task. Yet, they also find themselves pitted against larger numbers of people who appeared to have made it their mission to flout traffic rules and regulations. Against such (anti)-social menace, any police force would find things difficult. That is what is happening in Nagpur. The loosefooter has stopped by to see the helplessness of the Traffic Police force when countless numbers of people just care a damn for the rules and the keepers of those rules. Yes, they do wake up occasionally and show a strict, no-nonsense approach. But soon, they realise the hollowness of the whole effort -- against the scale of violation and sheer numbers of people mocking at them indirectly -- by breaking all rules. Long ago, a Commissioner of Police -- an officer of great abilities -- told the loosefooter in a conversation over coffee that the Police force is not an island of efficiency, but is drawn from the same larger society over which it is expected to establish a regime of general discipline and right conduct.

 

Despite that, it must be said that the people in the Police force are trying to achieve the impossible -- in the sense control massive numbers of people behaving in a brazen and purposely indisciplined manner. It is time also to recognise that most members of Police force -- rank and file -- have to work in truly adverse and even hostile conditions (whose recognition the people in political power rarely demonstrate). And that is also true with the larger society in which people show scant respect for the Police force and no understanding of the complexity of the task the cops are expected to perform in adverse conditions and situations. Yet, the cops -- especially those working in Traffic Regulation and Control -- are the most obvious symbols of the power of the State. And if they are are going to feel helpless against the unruly society, then there is a problem with the system. Again, it is important to assert that to defend the cops is not the purpose here, the purpose is to bring to fore the high degree of difficulty the cops have to face while discharging their duty.

 

At least even a superficial awareness of this reality would do a lot of good to the cops. Over the past several decades, the loosefooter has seen the Police force working in terrible situations. Yet, their overall efficiency-levels are quite good and they still enjoy a lot of societal respect. They do have their own shortcomings, all right. But the overall performance of the cops should be termed as satisfactory. “We do not expect anything very special from the people. But we do expect simple understanding of how we perform and under what conditions,” a very senior Police officer had said just recently in a telephonic conversation. And, this must be considered a logical and legitimate expectation, so to say.n