Cabinet approves five commissioners for Bengaluru; former officers express concern

The Karnataka Cabinet on Tuesday approved the reorganization of the Bengaluru police commissionerate into five commissioners, with the chief commissioner of police overseeing them.

The proposed overhaul has sparked heated debate among serving and former police officials.

The restructuring was proposed against the backdrop of Bengaluru’s rapid expansion and the creation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which divided the civic administration into five corporations. The proposed policing model generally seeks to reflect this arrangement in order to improve coordination between the police and civil authorities.

However, former senior police officers have questioned whether the civic structure can be directly replicated in policing, arguing that crime, law and order, traffic management and emergency mobilization do not necessarily follow municipal boundaries.

A former DGP who served with the Bengaluru city police said the proposed arrangement could cause more problems than solutions, especially in the operational police. According to a former officer, the proposal appears to be driven in part by a desire to “accommodate senior officials looking for posts in major metropolitan centers rather than a clearly stated operational requirement”.

“The existing command structure could be weakened”

The former DGP said the current city police structure has a clearly defined chain of command comprising the Commissioner of Police, DCP, Inspectors and Constables, with responsibility and jurisdiction understood at all levels. He argued that the proposed five-commission system could dilute this established structure by creating multiple command centers and overlapping responsibilities.

“The existing system has a clear line of command. The new arrangement could make these established positions less important and create confusion at various levels,” the former officer said.

He also warned that the mobilization of police forces during major emergencies could become significantly more difficult. Currently, the city’s police commissioner can mobilize forces throughout the city on demand. But under a five-commissioner system, deploying staff across jurisdictions could require more coordination between multiple commissioners and their facilities, he said.

VIP movements could reveal coordination problems

The former DGP cited the movement of high-ranking dignitaries as an example.

Currently, when the Prime Minister, President or other VVIPs visit Bengaluru, the city police commissioner can coordinate security and traffic arrangements along the entire route.

Under the proposed system, if multiple commissioners pass through the convoy, each commissioner could be asked to coordinate and deploy their own personnel. The officer said this could lead to duplication of manpower and unnecessary deployment of specialized units.

He cited the example of the City Armed Reserve (CAR) units that are currently being deployed and coordinated through the existing City Police structure for escort and security duties.

Under the proposed arrangement, individual commissioners could be asked to commit staff and resources to parts of the movement falling within their respective jurisdictions, which could lead to duplication of deployment and coordination.

“Why create five devices?”

The former officer also questioned the financial implications of creating five separate commissioners.

In addition to the proposed 6,000 additional jobs, the government would have to provide office infrastructure, vehicles, communication systems, accommodation, administrative staff and other facilities for the new establishments. According to him, the infrastructure requirement alone could represent a significant additional financial burden for the government.

“If the goal is better policing, the money should go to strengthening police stations, investigations, combat policing and manpower rather than creating more administrative facilities,” argued the former officer.

The public could face confusion

Another concern raised by the former DGP is the impact on the public. Currently, the people of Bengaluru generally identify the city police commissioner as the head of the city police force. Under the proposed arrangement, there would be five commissioners operating in different jurisdictions, in addition to the proposed Chief Commissioner of Police. A former officer said this could create uncertainty among citizens about which commissioner is responsible for a particular area or issue.

Instead of making policing more accessible, the arrangement could create jurisdictional confusion, especially if an incident involves more than one commissioner, he said.

The former city commissioner prefers a slimmer model

Another former city police commissioner also questioned the need for five independent commissioners, agreeing that Bengaluru needs more decentralisation.

According to him, the city should ideally have no more than two commissionerates, while the rapidly expanding areas and rural belts beyond the Outer Ring Road should be under a separate commissionerate.

An ADGP-rank officer could head the new commissioner, while the existing other superintendents of police could be re-designated as DCPs and given more territorial responsibility, he suggested.

Such a structure, he said, would ensure decentralized policing without creating multiple layers of senior command.

The existing divisions worked well

The former commissioner pointed to the restructuring done in 2016 when new divisions like Whitefield and Electronic City were created as Bengaluru expanded.

Several new police stations were established, while the Central Crime Branch was also given the powers of police stations. Despite opposition from some political leaders at the time, the restructuring subsequently helped the police manage the growing city, he said.

The creation of new divisions gave senior officers better control over their jurisdiction and reduced the burden on the central city police establishment.

The model was also relatively cost-effective and allowed the government to reorganize police jurisdictions as the city expanded, the former officer said.

Instead of creating five commissionerates, the existing system could be strengthened by adding additional divisions headed by DCPs wherever population and police requirements require it, he suggested.

There are five commissioners in favor

However, the proposed restructuring has its supporters among former police officials. Another former city police commissioner termed the move as a positive step in view of Bengaluru’s rapid growth and future expansion. The officer said the division of the city into five commissionerates could help address the growing demands on law and order, traffic management and local policing, provided there is effective coordination among the commissioners.

Smaller jurisdictions could allow senior officers to pay more attention to local issues and work more closely with relevant civic administrations, the officer said. However, the success of the system would depend on clearly defining the jurisdiction, powers and responsibilities of each commissionerate and ensuring smooth coordination, the officer added.

Do five corporations need five commissioners?

The larger debate centers on whether the five GBA corporations should automatically transfer to the five police jurisdictions.

Former officers opposed to the model point out that organized crime, cybercrime, financial crimes, drug networks and major law and order incidents often cross territorial borders. Major transportation corridors and public events can similarly affect several parts of the city.

They argue that police jurisdictions should instead be determined by population, crime patterns, geography, traffic movements, police station workloads, and emergency response requirements, rather than simply mirroring civic boundaries.

While it is widely agreed that Bengaluru needs more police personnel, the additional manpower should strengthen police stations, investigation teams, beat police, traffic enforcement, cyber crime investigation and specialized units.

Officers favoring a leaner structure say Bengaluru could achieve decentralization through two or three strong commissioners backed by expanded DCP divisions. Under such a model, the existing urban core could form one commissioner, while rapidly developing peripheral and rural areas could go under another. Further divisions could subsequently be created as the city grows.

According to them, the advantage would be greater flexibility for the regular reorganization of police powers, without the need to carry out a fundamental restructuring of the entire city police.

Bigger question

The debate is not whether Bengaluru needs police reform. There is broad agreement that urban expansion requires more manpower, stronger field-level oversight, and better coordination.

A key question is whether these goals are best achieved through five independent mandates or through a smaller number of stronger territorial units under the unified command of the city police. The former DGP said the government should carefully examine the operational implications before introducing a system that could be difficult and costly to reverse.

The success of any restructuring, the retired officers said, should ultimately be measured not by the number of senior officers appointed or commissioners created, but by whether it delivers faster response, effective force mobilization, tighter investigations, better traffic management, clear accountability and better policing at the police station level. The bigger question is whether these services can be provided to humans.