Police savagery during COVID-19 pandemic in India; psychological perspective – Correspondence

Dear Editor

While the current global pandemic of COVID-19 has posed a major challenge all over the globe, developing countries like India are still doing its best to protect the public's health by limiting the spread of the virus. People are witness to lengthy and strict pandemic lockdowns. In theory, lockdowns have prevented hospitals from being overwhelmed. One of the first steps in attempting to contain the spread of COVID-19 has been to restrict people's movements; however, not everyone has the luxury of staying at home. Those affected by the lockdowns have already been disproportionately affected due to loss of livelihood and lack of food, shelter, health, and other basic needs. There was a mass exodus among the working poor during the lockdowns who migrated from cites back to villages. As torture and other forms of ill-treatment are often committed in prisons and detentions, we increasingly see them on the Indian streets, at checkpoints, and during curfew enforcement by law enforcing agencies [1].

Unlike the scenario in other developed countries, Indian police force is extremely diverse depending on the states, regions or even language belts of India. Therefore, it is unwise to see them through a similar lens. Also, educational level, preliminary skills before recruitment to police force, level of corruption, financial benefits, political influences, and almost all possible factors are different among the police force of India. In general, the police is ill-equipped to deal with most natural disasters, rather the police is often tied by orders of politicians. Because of minimum independence in their life, policemen often suffer from demoralization. Most of the time, policemen are little aware of mental health issues even though they are also the silent victims of stress, alcoholism, depression or suicide [2,3]. There is a culture of toxic masculinity and perceived superiority among policemen who might have been influenced by their acceptance of all the government policies [4]. Also, it is possible that corruption level has skyrocketed during the pandemic season. On one hand, the police has to deal with the high level of work volume which might have caused a significant amount of stress, and it is also possible that the situation might have worked as a positive factor where they have got a sense of purpose. On a negative note, it is not impossible that the pandemic works in favor of earning more cash by unfair means. It cannot be ignored that the level of violence inflicted by police on the general population has been extremely high, which might have served the purpose of their superiority, or it might be a reflection of their stress level [5]. As most surveys during corona hours are done online or via convenience sampling, it is not appropriate to tell that police personnel are more vulnerable than the general population due to the COVID virus [[6], [7], [8]]. We must think about those common populations who have lost their jobs, have to migrate from state to state, and have died on the roads - the conditions that the police might be much better than some groups of the common populations [9]. Nonetheless, it is high time that the police force should get ready for any future environmental or psychological disaster as their behavior often influences social architecture. Several studies have reported human right abuse by police officers as a result of ensuring compliance with lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Others include use of unwarranted force and gross misconduct by police all over the world [[10], [11], [12], [13]].

As there have been massive lockdowns around the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with incidents which pose among the worst governance crises of the twentieth century. Law enforcement agencies have been tasked with enforcing lockdown restrictions. Negative experiences between the public and the police have been, therefore, natural. A study conducted in 10 states titled ‘Policing in the Covid-19 Pandemic’ revealed astonishing findings [14]. The study was conducted in the states like NCT of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Andra Pradesh, Tamil, Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. In the lockdowns, more than half (56%) of the population saw police helping civilians. However, a similar proportion of respondents (58%) also witnessed the police frequently using force during lockdowns. There was frequent conflicts between civilians and police during the lockdown, according to one in three common people (33%) who reported it. During the lockdown, most common people (55%) reported being afraid of the police. Five in ten were concerned about being fined (57%) and beaten by the police (55%). Almost one of two police personnel (49%) reported frequently using force against migrant workers returning home. A third of police personnel (33%) reported preventing migrants from entering shelters with force when the migrants were trying to do so [14]. More than three-quarters (64%) believed that a longer notice before the lockdown could have prevented the migrant crisis. During the lockdowns, there was a distinct class divide in the perceptions of the police. Poor people and those from lower social classes were more afraid of the police during the lockdowns, particularly of police violence. The police's instructions were also more likely to be perceived as threatening during this period. According to the cops, poor localities were also less likely to adhere to lockdown guidelines when compared to the affluent areas. Eighty-six percent of common people (86%) expressed a positive view of the police's behavior during the lockdowns. The behavior was rated as very good by a quarter (25%) and as good by three out of five (61%) respondents [14].

Challenges

• •Police officers generally are poorly prepared, equipped, nor trained properly to respond or assist in public health crisis requiring enforcement of newly formed laws.
• •In cases of response to emergency calls, not all responding officers are trained in crisis management for persons with mental health disorders. This results in mishandling and mismanagement of situations leading to police violence.
• •Use of military equipment against unarmed civilians in any opportunity the police force finds. This facilitates the mistrust against them by the populace.

Recommendations

• •There is a need to train and re-train police personnel, especially in procedural justice focusing on fairness, and to gain more education for respect on human rights of citizens to reduce widespread mistrust of police by the populace. Training reduces biases among the police officers and facilitates de-escalation.
• •People's trust for the police should be enhanced through police public relations enlightenment programs and campaigns. Doing this will enhance the quality of policing during any crisis, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. It will also promote interaction between police officers and citizens.
• •Effective monitoring system should be put in place to provide strict punishment for erring police officers who breach the law and cause human right abuse, particularly sexual and physical violence against the populace. There should also be a means of tracking complaints made against police officers, and making the data publicly available.
• •Legislation should be made to prohibit rehiring police officers who have been terminated from services as a result of a serious misconduct.
• •There should be programs for crisis assistance with the aim of preventing situations where crisis is mismanaged. Emergency call response should go along side with police officers, crisis workers and mental health providers so that they can work together when responding to incidents involving substance abuse, mental health crises, and homelessness. This can work to minimize violence especially by police officers.
• •Reinstating limits around what type of gear can and should be used by local law enforcement agencies to help reduce police-inflicted violence and death.
• •Community policing is an alternative to the “Broken Windows” style policing that crack down hard on minor infractions, and flooding neighborhoods with police enforcement.
• •There should be an independent and civilian oversight of police departments with the aim of reducing bad behavior. A study in 2016 reported that complaints made by citizens for investigation was more effective when reviewed by an outside agency [15]. They are more likely to merit the complaint than dismissing it. Others include citizen watchdog (policing the police) which has grown especially with video-equipped smartphones.

In the back drop of all these, we suggest police should adopt the policy of police of no harm. Education and human right should be taught, and brought into the curriculum. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the issues as mentioned above. This is a problem that requires zooming out and rising beyond local interests to be seen. The only way out is for citizens to become more informed, with better levels of civic education and political involvement, and to see the vicious loop of this disaster and the perilous condition of affairs to which we are all being led. Until then, we can continue to discuss police reform.

Ethical approval

N/A.

Source of funding

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Author contributhon

All authors have contributed in writing and reviewing the manuscript.

Trail registry number

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Guarantor

Sheikh Shoib.

Provenance and peer review

Not commissioned, internally peer-reviewed.

Statement

The data in this correspondence article is not sensitive in nature and is accessible in the public domain. The data is therefore available and not of a confidential nature.

Declaration of competing interest

N/A.