Police Commissionerate System

Like any other district in Haryana, Panchkula also had the traditional SP led policing system till 2007. Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization of Panchkula over last one decade, need was felt that Police Commissionerate System, more suited for large urban populations, should replace the old Police system. The Police Commissioner System was introduced in Panchkula in June, 2007 and since then it has been functioning well.

• Structure/Strength
• Crime Management
• Traffic Management
• Special Units
  • EOW Cell
  • Cyber Cell
  • Women Cell
• Police Control Room
• Arms Licensing Branch
• Powers of Executive Magistrate
• Police Commissioner System Vs SP led Police System

Crime Management

i) Panchkula shares its boundaries with Parvanoo(H.P.),Chandigarh,Mohali(Punjab). Panchkula has high population density. Large no. of people comes from nearby districts to Panchkula daily for work.

iii) Panchkula is divided into 10 police stations with each police station headed by SHO . A total of 2480 cases of vehicle theft, 119 cases of robbery and 5 cases of dacoity were registered in 2017. Panchkula Police Commissioner System has got special units like Anti-Vehicle theft staff, Anti- Robbery staff, CIA work on such cases. A total of 50 PCR Vans and 45 M/cycle Riders are deployed in field on 24*7 basis which work on the directions of Police Control Room, Panchkula and the maximum response time in majority of the cases for reaching the spot is 10 minutes.

Traffic Management

One of the busiest highways namely Panchkula to Saha(NH 72) and zirakpur to Kalka(NH 22). There are over 7 lacs registered vehicles in Panchkula. In the year 2017 alone 7500 vehicles have been registered in Panchkula. The magnitude of vehicular movement in Panchkula can be gauged from the fact that more than 1.8 lac vehicles pass through Surajpur toll plaza.

After the introduction of the Police Commissioner System in Panchkula, a separate Traffic Wing was set up for traffic management, under the control of Asstt. Commissioner of Police, Traffic assisted by ACP and SHOs of Traffic Police Station.

The Overall Posted Strength of the Panchkula Traffic Police is shown in the table given below:

Due to consistent road safety efforts, the no of cases of road accidents (fatal/non-fatal) has come down which is apparent from the table given below:

The table given below shows the no. of challans issued in year 2016 and 2017 for traffic violations for over speeding, drunken driving, overloading, wrong parking etc.:

Powers of Executive Magistrate

After Police Commissioner System came into force in Panchkula, the power of Executive Magistrate for the purpose of sections 107 to 122 and section 124 of Chapter VIII of CrPC which were previously vested with Deputy Commissioner were transferred to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Panchkula vide Haryana Govt Notification No. S.O.80/H.A.25/2008/Ss.8,9 & 10/2009 dated 26-08-2009.In the year 2017, cases have been registered u/s 107/150,107/151 & 109 CrPC.

Police Commissionerate System Vs SP led Police System

i) Large urban areas require Police Officers intensive policing system. It should have much higher officers to rank ratio. This is possible in Police Commissioner System in which each police functional area such as Traffic, Crime, Security, Law and Order etc is headed by senior officers of the rank of DCP, resulting in better supervision and control.

ii) The profile of human capital in big cities is very different from other places. Huge economic and intellectual assets both in terms of human and material, pose more complex issues which require a very professional police approach. A team of senior police officers is better equipped to handle traffic, crime, security related matters.

iii) Urban policing require quick police response, higher quality of police investigations, higher sensitivity in redressing public grievances, greater use of technology in policing which can be better addressed by senior officers led Police Commissioner System.

iv) Certain powers under various laws such as Arms Act, CrPC etc delegated to Police, have resulted in better and effective implementation and enforcement.

Comparison of Police Commissinerate System in Chandigarh & Panchkula