Are movies responsible for people’s fear of police?

Are movies responsible for people’s fear of police?

Introduction:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing India Conference of DGPs and IGPs, said in his speech that movies are responsible for showing cops in negative roles and hence people fear going to the police to file a complaint. His concept of “SMART” police is reformative and helpful to a great extent but only if that could be implemented, not just said and forgotten. However, he seems to have forgotten to mention or deliberately chucked out the political effects on police and their actions. Is it media and movies that are responsible for people’s fear of going to the cops to file a complaint? Or is it otherwise?

No, movies are not responsible:

1. People fearing police is not the gift of movies but real life instances where the woes of common people were either unheard or ignored by the police. Maybe not all police officers are unjust to the common men, but majority of them are on the top of the list. Police makes them wait long before their grievances are even heard by the cops and them the process of investigation is curt and rude making the one to complain seem like the culprit.

2. Movies are usually bold mirrors of the society. They are not afraid to show things as it is. Ask any common man and they would all unanimously advise you to stay from the police as far as possible. Not everyone is under the delusion of movies. Cases and complaints rot in the files of police station before they are even considered. Culprits around the country roam free after serious offenses such as murders and rapes, and those charged of pick-pocketing and even some false charges are trapped for years in jail.

3. It is surprising enough that the PM did not mention the control of politician over the policemen in India. Cops here are reduced to mere servants of these politicians and every action taken by the police is directly proportional in the favor of the ruling politician of the region. It is not movies that show cops in bad light but the corrupt politicians that cast this light over the cops. The foremost problem is that the cops are underpaid and hence the politicians find it easy to buy the loyalty of the cops with a few bags full of currencies.

4. Making the police SMART is not enough to bring a change in the security system of the country. The police needs to be freed from politics. Transfer, promotion, postings of the police should no way be influenced by the ruling ministers of the region. Allowances and posts should be standardized. Code of conduct and duty rules need reforms and the conditions of police station that look like rotten structures should be renovated. Fearless and contented police is necessary along with making them SMART.

5. It is a wrong allegation that movies always show the cops in bad light. What about the heroic cops that ruled the Indian cinemas like Singham and Dabang cops? We do not overlook the efforts that police makes to ensure the safety of the citizens but they are clearly overworked, undergo a lot of political pressure, and are underpaid.

Yes, movies are responsible:

1. Corrupt and bribe taking cops is one of the universal concepts shown in majority of the Indian cinemas. This has indeed created an image of the cops in our minds. Talk of cops and we think of a pot-bellied man with deadly mustache in his 50s chewing pan and holding that thick stick meant to hit only the poor and the underprivileged.

2. Movies show how the policemen treat a poor common man who goes to the police station to lodge a complaint of his missing daughter. They would first put the allegation on the girl for having affair perhaps and then blame the poor man for giving freedom to the girl. This has gone a long way in making up the minds of the common man to fear the cops and stay away from them.

3. Our system needs reforms but it is also the duty of people, media and film makers to show positive things to the people to encourage them to report their complaints and instead of patiently taking the torments, put their grievances in front of the cops and demand justice as it is the right of every India citizen.

4. If movies show the actions of the bad cops, it should also show what common people facing such situations must do in order to get justice. There are higher authorities that could be contacted for complaining against the bad cops and corrupt measures taken by them.

Conclusion:

The fear of the cops has to go away if we want to liberate our society. Movies play a part in shaping the images of people in our minds but along with that they reflect the society. Reforms are necessary to ensure that the concept of SMART police is not just a theoretical said and forgotten speech. How uninterested the cops were in the concept of the PMs Speech is clear from evidences that the director of the federal investigative agency, Ranjit Sinha, and the CBI Director was seen snoozing during the speech.