» History
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Punjab Police has had an extremely proud history and the legend of keeping duty before
self. Even before Independence, Punjab Police had a name in the country
for effective policing and this has been continuously improving through the personal
examples of its leadership supported by great traditions, discipline, and highly
professional attitude.
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The emergence of Punjab Police as a separate organization is a post 1861 development,
which took place after the British annexation of Punjab in 1849. In about
150 years of its existence, the police force in the state has faced many difficult
phases. The onus of handling law and order has always been a challenge before the
police mainly because of the inherent martial traditions prevailing in the state.
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The reorganization process in police dates back to 1898, when the practice
of appointing army officers to the post of Inspector General was discontinued. However,
a sincere effort was made in 1902 by the British, in the form of Indian Police Commission,
to identify the shortcomings in the police system. It was, thus, recommended that
the police strength in the state may be enhanced.
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Setting up of the Police Training School at Phillaur in 1891, and later the introduction
of finger print section has been among the achievements of the Punjab Police.
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During the late fifties, it was felt that further reforms were required in Punjab
Police. A commission, headed by an ex-Chief Justice of India, was appointed
in 1961, which submitted its report in May 1962. Screening of the police force,
setting up of a Scientific Laboratory for crime clue's examination and research
centre under Director, Forensic Science Laboratory, better human resource development
schemes were among the recommendations of the commission.
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Since then, the police force in the state has come a long way. Whether it was the
handling of hyper-sensitive mass migration of millions during partition of India
and Pakistan, or to control the dacoity menace in the fifties, or the naxalite violence
in the sixties/seventies, Punjab Police has come out as a winner. Porosity of a
thickly-populated unnatural land border with Pakistan and extremely inhospitable,
barren hill borders with China in Ladakh and Kashmir were manned by Punjab Armed
Police Battalions till mid-sixties, till the Border Security Force came into being.
Those gallant men on the border faced the brunt of foreign armed aggression in 1962
and 1965. In the recent years, the Punjab Police has successfully suppressed the
gory face of terrorism in Punjab, in which nearly 20,000 people lost their lives
during 1981-1994. Now, modern communication equipment, state-of-the-art information
systems, well-equipped scientific labs, more responsive police personnel, are among
the constituents of the Punjab Police.
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It's a force with a difference! A force with a conviction! And, a force with a heart!
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