Tactical belt for cops: Is it all about look?
Under the ‘hands-free policing’ theme, cops will get multi-chamber tactical waist belts
The Bangladesh Police is going to introduce tactical belts for its personnel in the field and operational duties. Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed will distribute those at Rajarbagh Police Lines in Dhaka on Tuesday morning.
Primarily, cops under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) will get the nylon and polyester-made belts with six chambers.
Cops will be able to carry a wireless set, water bottle, point-of-sale (POS) machine, torch, baton and handcuffs in those chambers smartly, instead of holding those in hands.
Another belt will be strapped with the belt to hold the small firearms in a thigh holster, said police officials, adding that the use of large and heavy-weight firearms strapping on the shoulder will be phased out with the theme of "hands-free policing".
Senior police officials said the belt would help to ensure hands-free policing so that cops could remain more relaxed and active during their duty.
Around 10,000 belts have already been readied. Around 7,000 will be given to the DMP and 3,000 to the CMP, said Shahidul Islam, assistant inspector general (equipment-2) at Police Headquarters.
He said nearly 80,000 cops are in operational duties now, and they will be gradually provided with the belts imported from China.
In the meantime, DMP Deputy Commissioner (media) Walid Hossain said the aim of "hand-free policing" is to better-equip the force and make policing more efficient.
This year, several controversial acts of some police officials, including the murder of retired military official Sinha in Cox's Bazar and Sylhet custodial death, came to the spotlight which arguably damaged the image of the force.
Amid criticisms in the wake of each incident, the IGP urged the law enforcers to improve their image by smartness, professionalism and turning into a people-friendly force. In such a recent call, Benazir Ahmed said police officer-in-charges (OCs) could be like "Hamelin's flutists" in their respective zones.
Equipping police keeping pace with the other developed countries to enable "hands-free policing" seems to have set the tone what the IGP called for.
