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58Revisiting Police Laws“(2) The Commission shall:a) draw up a Strategic Policing Plan (hereafter the Strategic Plan) for a five-year periodduly identifying the objectives of policing sought to be achieved during the period andsetting out an action plan for their implementation;b) place the Strategic Plan before the Provincial Assembly within three months of this Actcoming into force. Subsequent Strategic Plans shall, thereafter, be laid before theParliament every three years.c) place before the Provincial Assembly, at the beginning of each financial year, a ProgressReport on the implementation of the Strategic Plan as well as an Annual Policing Plan(Annual Plan for short) that prioritises the goals of the Strategic Plan for the year inquestion.(3) the Strategic and the Annual Plans shall be prepared after receiving inputs on the policingneeds of the province from the District Police Officers who, in turn, shall formulate the same in consultationwith the community.(4) the Strategic Plan, the Progress Report and the Annual Plan shall be made readily accessibleto the public.”Section 99 – Citizen Police Liaison CommitteesChapter X: MiscellaneousThe onus on the citizenry under Section 99 to create Citizen Police Liaison Committees (CPLCs) permits thePunjab Government to abdicate its role in nurturing healthy and effective community policing schemes. Researchhas shown that well conceived community policing initiatives are most likely to reduce crime and forge a betterrelationship between the community and the police. Thus, it is incumbent for the Punjab Government to do morethan simply provide for the possibility that citizens will come together to create a CPLC. Rather, Section 99 shouldstate that the Government shall create a CPLC for every police station, irrespective of size of the population or howcrime prone it is.In addition, the composition of the CPLC is what will determine its success or failure. The current draftsuggests that members shall be concerned citizens and persons of proven reputation for integrity and competencefrom the fields of academia, law, media, human rights and other fields. For community policing to be truly effective,it should be inclusive and allow for maximum participation. Members of any effective CPLC should be able toadequately articulate the needs of the community as well as be representative of it. This needs reflection in the DPPA.We also urge that the language be amended so as to ensure that members be chosen in a transparent manner by aSelection Committee empanelled for the purpose.Further it is extremely important to ensure that no person with any political affiliation shall be allowed tobecome a member of such Committee. While the backing of political powers is important for the institutionalisationof committees, having such people directly involved in the CPLCs will only lead to the unnecessary politicisation ofthe CPLCs and ultimately their failure.Finally, the CPLC should meet at least once every month, to ensure that there is a constant two-waycommunication occurring between the police and the public. This communication is an essential element to buildingan effective police-public partnership. The DPO and the Officer in Charge of the police station should be present atall meetings of the CPLC so that the community can discuss pressing matters with the police outside of the policestation.99. RecommendationSection 99 of the DPPA should be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: