Bangladesh Police

Details of policing activities during the middle age are challenging to find. However, during the periods of the great sultans, an official holding the position of Muhtasib used to perform the duties of policing. This person was the chief of police, in charge of public works, and the inspector of public ethics simultaneously. In urban areas, Kotwals were responsible for performing police duties. The policing system introduced by Sher Shah Suri was further organised during the period of Emperor Akbar: the Emperor organised his administrative structure introducing Fouzdari (the principal representative of the Emperor), Mir Adal and Kazi (the head of judicial department), and Kotwal (the chief police official of larger cities). This system was effective in maintaining the law and order in cities, and was implemented in Dhaka. Many district sadar police stations are still called Kotwali police stations. In the Mughal period, Kotwal emerged as an institution.

A Fouzdar was appointed to every administrative unit of the government (district), under whom there were some artillery and cavalry forces. There was a disciplined police system during the Mughal period, though there was no professional police force like that in the British period.

In the early stage of the Industrial Revolution, when England was facing grave crisis due to socio-economic transformation, the necessity of an effective organised police service was keenly felt. Sir Robert Peel, then the Prime Minister, introduced a bill in the British Parliament in 1829 which created an organised civil police in London. The success of the London police in controlling social disorder and crime was admired by not only the people of England but also of European and American countries: New York city copied the London model with some modifications when it organised the first Municipal Police Force, in 1833.[7]

In 1858, full control of the Indian Territory was taken over from the East India Company by the British government. The success of the London police organised under Peel's Act of 1829 prompted the British government to reform the police system in the sub-continent in a similar way to British constabularies. With this end in view, a police commissioner was set up 1840, and on the recommendation of the commission of the Police Act (Act V of 1861), was passed by the British Parliament. Under this Act a police force was created in each province of British India, and placed under the control of the provincial government. The administration of the police force of a province was vested upon an officer styled as the Inspector-general of police. The administration of the police in a district was placed under the Superintendent of Police. The Act is still in force throughout the sub-continent, and regulates the function of police in Bangladesh, as well as the other countries of the sub-continent.[7]

After partition of the sub-continent in 1947, the police force in Bangladesh was first named as the East Bengal Police, and then as the East Pakistan Police; however, it continued to function on the same lines as during the British rule.[8]

In the Bangladesh Liberation War, Bengali-speaking police officers participated with the citizens, leading to deaths from most ranks, fighting with .303 rifles against the Pakistani. The resistance by the Bengali members of police at Rajarbagh is considered the first chapter of armed struggles during the Bangladesh Liberation war.[9][10] Bangladesh Police founded a Liberation War Museum at the Rajarbagh police line in January 2017.[11]

After the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country on 16 December 1971, the police force was recognised and assumed the role of a national police force.[7] In January 2004, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led government removed the boat from the Police force badge because the boat is also the symbol of the then opposition party, Bangladesh Awami League. The police had been using the boat in its symbol since the independence of Bangladesh.[12]

Subnational units

• Range Police
• Metropolitan Police

Specialized units

• Airport Armed Police (AAP)
• Diplomatic Security Division ()
• Tourist Police (Website)
• Highway Police
• Industrial Police (IP)
• River Police
• Railway Police (GRP) (Website)

Specialized Battalions

• Special Security and Protection Battalion (SPBn)
• Special Armed Force (SAF)
• Range Police and Range Reserve Force (RRF)
• Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)
• Armed Police Battalion (APBn)

Specialized Team

• Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)
• Crisis Response Team (CRT)
• Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU)
• Bomb Disposal Unit
• Canine Unit

• Police Headquarters (PHQ)
• Police Staff College, Bangladesh (PSC)
• Bangladesh Police Academy, Sarda (BPA)
• Police Training Centers (PTCs)
• Specialized Training Center like DTS/TDS/FTC/SBTS/IPTC/ITTS/Telecom TS/MDTS/PSTS etc.

• Special Branch
• Detective Branch
• Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CT)
• Police Internal Oversight (PIO)
• Cyber Security and Crime Division
• Telecommunication and Information Management (T&IM)

• Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
• Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI)

Police medals are awarded every year in the annual Police Week Parade. They are awarded both for bravery and service.

Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM)

• Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM)
• Bangladesh Police Medal – Service (BPM-Seba)

President Police Medal (PPM)

• President Police Medal (PPM)
• President Police Medal – Service (PPM-Seba)

The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) are recruited by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) through the competitive Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination. They undergo a one-year-long training in the Bangladesh Police Academy as Probationary ASPs. After passing from the academy, they undergo an orientation training for six months in the district level as a probationer. After that they have been appointed as a full-fledged ASPs in different units.

Sub-Inspectors are recruited by Police Headquarters centrally. They undergo a one-year-long training in the Bangladesh Police Academy as Outside Cadet Sub-Inspectors. After that they have partake in two years probationary period in different police units. After that they have been appointed as a full-fledged SIs in different units.

Sergeants are recruited by Police Headquarters centrally. After appointment they undergo a six-month-long training course in the Bangladesh Police Academy, at the rank of Probationary Sergeant. After passing from the academy, they also undergo an orientation training of six months in the rank of probationer.

Constables are recruited in the district level. They undergo a six-month-long training in the Police Training Centre as a Trainee Recruit Constable career (TRC).

The main training institution of the Bangladesh Police is the Bangladesh Police Academy, established in 1912 in Sardah. The Police Staff College, which trains officers from ASP to DIG in-service, was established in 2000 in Dhaka.[13] Bangladesh Police also maintains Police Training Centre (PTC) in Tangail, Rangpur, Khulna and Noakhali. The Detective Training School was established in 1962 in Dhaka.

• Police Staff College, Dhaka
• Bangladesh Police Academy, Sardah, Rajshahi
• Police Training Centre, Tangail
• Police Training Centre, Rangpur
• Police Training Centre, Khulna
• Police Training Centre, Noakhali
• Detective Training School (DTS), Rajarbagh, Dhaka
• Forensic Training Institute, Malibagh, Dhaka
• Special Branch Training School, Malibagh, Dhaka
• Police Peacekeepers' Training School, Rajarbagh, Dhaka
• Police Special Training School (PSTS), Betbunia, Rangamati
• Traffic and Driving School (TDS), Mill Barrack, Dhaka
• Motor Driver Training School (MDTS), Jamalpur
• Telecommunications Training School, T&IM, Rajarbagh, Dhaka
• IT Training School, T&IM, Rajarbagh, Dhaka
• Armed Police Battalion and specialized training centre, Khagrachari
• Rapid Action Battalion Forces Training School, Gazipur
• Armed Police Battalion Training School

Moreover, there are in-service training centres in different districts.

Under the strategic partnership there are:

1. a National Community Policing Advisory Committee, chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs
2. a National Community Policing Co-ordination Committee headed by the IGP or an additional Inspector General of Police at the Police Headquarters
3. a Crime Prevention Centre, set up in the police Headquarters having the Detective Inspector General (Crime) at the focal point

The implementation partnership starts at the district level: There is a district community-policing cell in every district under the Superintendent of Police. The Additional SP or an ASP looks after the district community-policing cell. Secondly, in the police station level, there is a community policing cell with a full-time community policing officer (CPO), who coordinates the community policing activities in the police station jurisdiction.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police is implementing the beat policing in Dhaka city. In this regard, each Police Station is divided into some police beats, and for each beat there is an assigned Beat Policing Officer.