Pakistan journalist expresses concern over rise in street crimes in Karachi

Karachi [Pakistan], April 20 : Pakistani journalist Syed Zeeshan expressed concern on Saturday over the rising street crimes including killings, and noted that the situation in the city is getting worse day by day, urging that the police should restrategize to curb the situation.
"The incidents of mobile snatching and street crime are on a continuous rise but the killings of people during the dacoity incidents have also surged in the past few months. In the last three months, 40 to 50 people have lost their lives in such incidents in Karachi. This is alarming and it's important to control this situation. There is a need to change the strategy of the police to curb these incidents," the journalist said.
"Previously, there used to be incidents of mobile snatching but now dacoits are killing people. In one such case, a member of Karachi police was also killed. There is a serious need of community policing and improvement of police equipment. But, the residents of Karachi are not able to comprehend to whom they should reach out for help. More than 20 people have died in the cases of mobile snatching alone. Probably these incidents are a pre-planned act of crime," he added.
On April 2, The Express Tribune reported that the port city of Pakistan, Karachi now faces a severe problem of increasing street crime. Recent incidents have resulted in the creation of a sense of lawlessness amongst the people.
The incidents of street crimes in Karachi often get recorded on CCTV and go viral. The report also stated that this increase in street crime has now resulted in the loss of lives, claiming that 23 individuals have lost their lives in robbery-related incidents during January and February this year alone.
Quoting the data of the Citizen Police Liaison Committee, an organisation that collects crime data in Karachi the same report stated that "during January and February: a total of 106 fatalities occurred in the city, 11 cases of kidnapping for ransom were reported, a staggering 10,488 motorcycles and 441 cars were stolen, and approximately 4,000 incidents of mobile phone snatching were reported".
Responding to the crisis at hand the Sindh administration has promised to recruit at least 12,000 new police personnel will be recruited for the port city's 108 police stations, which will double the strength of the city's police force, The Express Tribune stated quoting its sources.
Furthermore, it must be noted that Karachi already has a police force of 48,000 personnel but only 12,000 officers are available for duty in the metropolis's police stations.
The Express Tribune claimed to have reached out to Additional Inspector General Karachi, Khadim Hussain Rind to enquire about the details of the plan of recruitment of such heavy force but Rind remained unresponsive. However, police sources, under the condition of anonymity, informed The Express Tribune that the remaining personnel of the Karachi police have been deployed for protocol duties.
The report further stated that "Mere recruitment drives won't suffice; we need comprehensive improvements in the police system," emphasised Qazi Khizar, Vice Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Sindh. Khizar further asserted the importance of modernising police weaponry, enhancing training programmes, and fostering a culture of accountability within police stations.
Echoing similar sentiments, Tauseef Ahmad, a former professor and senior columnist, stressed the importance of addressing underlying factors contributing to street crime.
The report also claimed that, the administration has previously allocated funds to increase and modernize the security status of the port city, but implementation remains a work in progress, with a projected timeline of two years for completion, for the first phase alone.