PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar on police reforms have called for implementation of laws to avoid discrimination and ensure easy access to justice to citizens.

The seminar was organised under the aegis of Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) at Peshawar Press Club on Friday. The speakers included Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Mohammad Tahir Khan, CM`s adviser Arif Yousaf and Prof Ghulam Rehmani. The public forum was also attended by members of the civil society, security experts, lawyers and people from different walks of life.

The stakeholders said that no one was above the law and thus they should be treated alike to ensure easy access to justice to people to avoid discrimination. They said that it was need of the hour to effectively implement all relevant laws to restore public confidence in police.

Defending police, the CCPO said that key considerations of the KP police reforms were professionalism, operational autonomy and accountability. He said that through capacity building initiatives the KP police were injecting maximum possible resources into its human capital for their professional training and grooming.

`Several specialised schools in this regard are playing a significant role to build capacity of the police personnel in different areas of specialisation with behavioural change at the top,` he said.

He said that the reforms in KP police had resulted in reduction of crimes and terrorism acts by at least 50 per cent.

He also said that there was a visible progress in action against criminals in the society to ensure protection to citizens.

Prof Rehmani said that the rule of law was important for peaceful and crimefree society. `Under the KP Police Act 2017 the police are bound to give due respect to the people. The law also holds them accountable for their actions and services geared towards citizens. The rule of law requires joint public-police partnership,` he said.

Mr Yousaf said that the KP police were free from political influence and ever more accountable.