Law enforcement and crime

Though it is the world's 4th most densely populated city with 23,234 people crammed into each square kilometer area, Dhaka is not listed among the most crime-prone cities. The most violent cities considering their high crime rates are in Mexico in North America, according to Statista, a German online platform specialising in data gathering and visualisation.  In fact, out of the 10 most dangerous cities of 2024, according to Statista's ranking, 7 are from Mexico, while the rest three are from Haiti, Ecuador and South Africa. Notably, the ranking is done on the basis of the number of homicides taking place per 100,000 people, which was 140.32 in Colima, Mexico as of July, 2024.

Thankfully, Dhaka is not listed among these dangerous cities. Obviously, it is not high population density of a place that makes it crime-prone. In fact, more than population density or poverty, other issues influence the crime rate and safety level of a place. The high crime rates, dangerous crimes to be specific, of Mexico and some other South and Central American countries, for instance, have their origins in their criminal underworlds including drug cartels. Most importantly, it is not in the nature of the people of those countries that they have high crime rates.

Austria, for example, has been rated as the third most peaceful country in the Global Peace Index with its low crime and high safety indices at 26.70 and 73.30, respectively. While there are few reported cases of dangerous crimes in that country, it cannot still be branded as a hundred per cent safe place as petty crimes like pick-pocketing is rife there. However, in comparison to the North America's Mexico, some Central American, South American and many other countries of the global South, European countries are no doubt safe places. That is because the governments of those countries do not compromise on the issue of maintaining law and order.

The people of Bangladesh during various junctures of its history have often demonstrated their penchant for peace and stability. At this point, one may recall that following overthrow of Hasina government, there was no administration in the country for three days in a row until the Dr. Yunus-led interim government was sworn in on August 8. But that did not give rise to any new crisis during those days without government.  One wonders what might happen in any of the 'civilised' societies of the West under such circumstances.

Be that as it may, there is no alternative to strict enforcement of law to ensure peace and stability in any society. Mention may be made here of a recent media report that says distribution of police force is not proportionate to the incidence of crime between Dhaka and other cities which are more crime-prone. The report is based on a study conducted by three teachers from the Department of Public Administration of Dhaka University and the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies. The subject of the study was about public trust in police service in the urban areas. Using the data on the urban rates of crime provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and those (data) from Bangladesh Police, the study tried to relate the incidence of urban crime to the number of police engaged to combat it. The study found that incidence of violent crimes like robbery, murder, rape, riot,  kidnapping, etc was the highest in Sylhet town followed by Khulna and Rangpur. Though Dhaka's crime rate, according to the study, is the lowest, it still has the highest number of police, police stations and other facilities. To those conducting the study, it is a dichotomy. But is it really so? Is it not also true that it is the presence of larger police force that is behind Dhaka's crime rate that is lower than that of Sylhet or Khulna? In that case, the argument should rather focus on increasing the number of police and police stations in Sylhet and Khulna and not on reducing their number in the capital city.

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