How does police in India approach policing? | Number Theory

A series of studies on policing in India shows that some of these can also be attributed to lack of training in crowd control

The protests in Delhi this July and earlier this month sparked a raft of allegations against police and paramilitary personnel — from not wearing name tags to surveillance using facial recognition technology, using disproportionate force for crowd control, and indiscriminate detentions. The Opposition and protestors blamed the government for many of these incidents. The police defended themselves and said they were dealing with swarms of people, many of whom were trying to instigate violence. A series of studies on policing

Representative Image/PTI

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  Police say they are trained about crowd control and human rights usually only at the time of joining

  The 2019 SPIR surveyed 11,834 police personnel across 105 locations in 20 states and Delhi. One question that was asked was the timing of personnel’s last training on human rights and crowd control. A small share reported that they had never received such training. Irrespective of experience, a majority reported receiving the last crowd control training at the time of joining. Similarly, around 41% of overall respondents reported receiving human rights training only at the time of joining.
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  Using ‘tough methods’ to create fear among the public is accepted by most personnel…

  The 2025 round of the SPIR surveyed 8,276 police personnel in 16 states and Delhi and tried to gauge their opinion on, among other things, the use of “tough methods to create fear among the public”. Over half the respondents thought it was important although only 20% considered it “very important”. To be sure, the surveyors left the phrase “tough methods” undefined and vague for the police. However, the majority belief in such methods could explain aggressive policing in situations such as the Delhi protests.
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  …and extra-judicial resolution is not universally frowned upon

  Most detentions in the July or October protests are likely to have taken place under Section 172 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which allows for temporary detention or removal for petty cases where a person does not follow lawful directions given by the police. In the 2025 SPIR, police were asked if it was better for officers to give minor punishment for petty offences themselves instead of following a legal trial. While a majority favoured following a legal trial, a significant 38% thought police should administer minor punishment themselves. This proportion varied across ranks, but not dramatically.
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  The general public is not staunchly against government surveillance for curbing protests and political movements

  While it would be useful to know both public and police perception on all aspects discussed here, that is not the case with SPIR surveys so far. For example, the 2023 survey – conducted among 9,779 people in 11 urbanised states and Delhi – focused on public perception around different aspects of surveillance and privacy. This shows that a majority of people are not opposed to the use of surveillance technology to curb protests and political movements. To be sure, there is hierarchy of acceptance among the general population for different technologies, such as facial or voice recognition still having less enthusiastic support than CCTV cameras.