Dolphin Force

Dolphin Force is an elite security unit of the Punjab Police to deal with street crime.[2][3] Modeled after the Istanbul Police Dolphin Force [4][5][6] it was launched by the Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore in first phase and later in the five other major cities of the province in second phase.[7][8] 696 policemen were trained in the second phase.[9]

Dolphin Force
ڈولفن فورس
Two Dolphin Force officers patrolling the major road of Lahore
Agency overview
Preceding agency
  • Mahafiz Force
Employees1800[1]
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Shehbaz Sharif

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Organization

The Dolphin Force command centre will be headed by the SP while and will be divided amongst Saggian Bridge, Iqbal Town, Harbanspura, Chung, Civil Lines and Model Town with 50 motorcycles each.[10]

In 2016,it was announced that this modern force will also be introduced in other metropolitan cities of Punjab,such as Rawalpindi, Multan, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad. They passed out in 2017. Moreover, it was to be a given a separate headquarters and an SP in every city, but the plan has yet to be executed.[11]


SP Dolphin Force

Since its establishment, following Superintendents of Police(SP) have been appointed as Head of Dolphin force Lahore:

  • Bilal Zafar (PSP)
  • Aisha Butt (PSP) [12]
  • Rashid Hadayat (PSP) [13]

Operations

The force will comprise 1,800 constables, 60 ASIs, 15 SIs, four DSPs and an SP who will work in three shifts with 300 motorcycles. The equipment will include three hundred 500cc Honda motorcycles, 10 mini buses for field support, 600 helmets, 600 camera-body cams, 200 GPS locators and 300 wireless radios. A special uniform will be worn for dolphin patrol officials.

Two policemen ride each bike will be equipped with helmets with wireless radio, small arm, handcuffs, GPS tracking device, camera and special uniform (black with contrasting red and white colors).[14]

Criticism and controversies

Mismanagement in the project

Despite spending one billion on the project, the Dolphin force was one of the most mismanaged and misplaced project, therefore, known as white elephant for Punjab govt.[15] Instead of basic police reforms in Punjab and providing them infrastructure and resources the new force was raised. Few of such examples are following:[16]

  • Each officer was given single piece of uniform which he has to wear each day without opportunity to change it. The Rs 50,000 per piece parachute apparel turns out to be unfit for hot weather in Lahore and was replaced later with cotton uniform wasting huge amount of public money.
  • A 500CC Honda heavy bikes purchased for 1.0 million Rs each doesn't have any spare parts or repairing expertise, a minor fault in bikes resulted in parking them back without any replacements.
  • A expensive Helmet worth Rs. 35,000 containing blue tooth, however, the equipment was not put to full usage, for example, the blue tooth was never integrated to central communication network.
  • With the salary as low as 22,000 several constables were found taking bribes and making monthly deals to provide safe passages to people on regular basis. Even four constables were dismissed after caught red handed.[17]

Street crime rate in Lahore

Despite spending billion on the project and its high operational cost, the crime rate of Lahore soared in early 2016,[18] during start[19] and mid of 2017,[20] only in July, 2017 the crime surged by 13.37% in Lahore.[21] Although the project received continuous funds, however, it was unable to deliver in any form.[22]

References
  1. https://www.dawn.com/news/1163455
  2. Hassan, Waseem Riaz, Daniyal (2015-09-21). "Dolphin Force: Punjab government's white elephant?". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  3. "Dolphin Force launched to tackle street crime". The Nation. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  4. https://www.dawn.com/news/1163455
  5. https://tribune.com.pk/story/715968/turkish-model-punjab-to-have-dolphin-police-unit-says-cm/
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaQTvd2vvow
  7. "Dolphin Force launched in Faisalabad - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  8. Correspondent, The Newspaper's (2016-05-26). "Dolphin Force plan for Bahawalpur". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  9. "Dolphin Force set to expand further: CM - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2017-10-22. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  10. https://www.dawn.com/news/1163455
  11. https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/04/09/dolphin-force-to-be-extended-to-four-other-cities/
  12. https://m.facebook.com/NRS271Punjab/posts/sp-dolphin-force-lahore-aisha-butt-psp/113920783531803/
  13. https://www.dawn.com/news/1565854
  14. https://www.dawn.com/news/1163455
  15. "Dolphin force Punjab Govt's white elephant? : The Dawn". The Dawn. 2015-09-21.
  16. "Is Lahore's Dolphin Force a waste of public funds?: The Express Tribune". The Dawn. 2016-07-09.
  17. "Dolphin force men arrested for bribe: The Dawn". The Dawn. 2016-06-17.
  18. "Crime rate on the rise in Lahore? : Dunya TV". Dunya TV. 2016-12-01.
  19. "Lahore spike in crime rate? : The nation". The Dawn. 2017-01-01.
  20. "High crime rate in Sadar division lahore : The tribune". The Tribune. 2017-10-22.
  21. "Crime surged by 13.37% in July, 2017 Lahore : The tribune". The Tribune. 2017-07-09.
  22. "Despite receiving billions Dolphine force failed to curb crimes? : Dunya TV". Dunya TV. 2017-11-22.


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