Concerns Over Potential Conflict Between Police and Administrative Cadres

Joy Adittiya

Field-level administrative officials in Bangladesh have proposed assuming control over district police management. They suggest granting deputy commissioners (DCs) authority to write the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of district police superintendents (SPs) and empowering upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) to draft ACRs for officer-in-charge (OCs) of police stations. This proposal has raised concerns about escalating tensions between the police and administrative cadres, which have historically been latent.

The Deputy Commissioners’ (DC) Conference began today and will continue until February 18. Division commissioners and DCs submitted these proposals, which were reviewed by the Cabinet Secretary to prepare a working paper for discussion at the conference, held at Osmani Memorial Auditorium.

In 1977, during a period of political shifts, the authority to write SPs’ ACRs was removed from DCs following disagreements between civil service officers from the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) and East Pakistan Civil Service (EPCS) and objections from the police. Recently, administrative officials have been advocating to regain this authority.

Currently, DCs head district law and order committees, with SPs serving as members. Similarly, UNOs preside over upazila-level committees, with OCs as members. However, complaints have arisen that SPs and OCs often send representatives instead of attending meetings themselves, and immediate police support is sometimes unavailable during emergencies.

Several DCs have submitted specific proposals aimed at addressing these issues, including enhanced oversight of police personnel and the formation of specialized response forces to assist with critical operations.

According to the Cabinet Division, 212 decisions were made at last year’s DC Conference, with 130 resolved and 82 still under implementation. This year’s conference will address the proposals, which could reshape the balance of authority between police and administrative officials if implemented.