Interview with Kiran Bedi
UN Civilian Police Adviser
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| Biography | |
Ms. Bedi has had a distinguished career in India, where she was the first female officer ever to join the Indian Police Service. She held the position of Special Commissioner (Intelligence) with the Delhi Police prior to her UN appointment. Ms. Bedi holds a law degree, a master's degree in political science and a PhD in the field of drug abuse and domestic violence, and she is the author of the "3-C model" of prison reforms—Corrective, Collective and Community-based reforms—consisting of a literacy programme, drug abuse treatment and mental health treatment. Nuchhi R. Currier of the UN Chronicle spoke to Ms. Bedi in April 2003. |
| Interview |
| On past experience and expectations from new assignment I bring extensive police management experience, 31 years of micromanagement in the field and at headquarters. If you've been a field hand then you are always combining practice and theory. As a British colony we inherited a legal system which combined police and corrections work, thus in India the police are involved in running prisons. As Inspector-General of the largest prison in any liberal democracy, Tihar prison, I supervised 11,000 people. Normally, prisons are used as dumping grounds for human beings. We turned it around in two years, into a reformatory actually. A book came out of it, entitled "Its Always Possible." A whole new concept of crime prevention, prison management and community policing is developed in it. We raised many issues: about the relationship between prison systems and crime prevention and about the concepts of welfare and community policing. We advocated using prisons to dry-clean people instead of contaminating them. The book has been published in many languages, being used as a textbook in some countries. I was also involved in police training—in transforming the Delhi institute from a college into an academy. On the scale of UN missions compared to past assignments The scale is much larger. We aim to bring peace through good institutionalized democratic policing, keeping in mind that each mission's history, resources, capabilities and cultures are different. There are far too many variables. What is required is advance planning, preparing for a transition and then handing-over. Resources are never guaranteed. Missions are constantly being downsized to facilitate handing over to the local government. Also, member states, who provide human resources and donor funds, are usually in a hurry to see results. So, it is work on an international scale but culled from our own domestic experiences. One has to imagine and envision all the time to get it right. On the future direction of the department Each mission's mandate is need-based. Some call for a referendum and election support while others need cease-fire support or a full executive mandate. From total police governance to complete police structuring to everything in-between, each region's needs are unique and have to be understood and analyzed. Law and order situations require much more information and are more sensitive in nature than development or humanitarian actions. We have no off-the-shelf solutions available to us. It is difficult to anticipate and prepare for a specific goal but the department has all the elements in place to respond to crises of security and governance, with the authorization and help of member states. On the resources of the department We are normally given a reasonable lead-time to prepare a plan of action. There are planning, policy and mission management desks with whose help it is possible to mobilize fast and effectively. I have a corrections officer and a judge officer to work with. When a police-restructuring mandate comes in we study all three pillars. We believe it is not possible to have good democratic policing with an archaic prison system that contaminates or a broken down judicial system that does not deliver. Within the UN system we work closely with the Departments of Political Affairs, Operations, Human Rights, Development, and Peacekeeping Operations. On the condition of women prisoners in India We have come a long way. Various organizations like the National Commission for Human Rights, National Commission for Women and the IAS Commission on Women Prisoners have done a lot of work. The intervention of the Public Interest Commission, public interest litigation by various people in the Supreme Court coupled with proactive judgments of the court has made a big difference. There is now a holistic approach to women prisoners and child prisoners. Mothers can keep kids born in prison for 5 years, with their schooling and healthcare guaranteed. My organization "India-Vision Foundation" is working with such children and educating them as part of prison reform. The system is there, open to sunshine, it may not be the best but is now talked about, written about, getting addressed, legally debated, questioned, reported, and even corrected. I believe anything is possible. I bring the same spirit to my new assignment. On reasons for opting for police service I was a people and community-oriented person growing up. I could have ended up in social work but since I was a political science student I was naturally attracted to the Civil Service. I opted for the Indian Police Service because it allowed for working directly with people and also gave me the power to deliver, serve, contribute and correct. I was a sports girl, action oriented. This line of work provides instant results and satisfies my desire to see justice being done. Unlike the Civil Service which allows limited contact with people, I can see people in my files and behind the files when I am working on a problem. |
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