Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 10/2014

A Counterterrorism Role for Pakistan's Police Stations

Robert Perito, Tariq Parvez

August 2014

United States Institute of Peace

Abstract

Violence is escalating in Pakistan, both in its megacities and along the border with Afghanistan—from terrorism, to secessionist insurgency, to sectarian conflict, to ethnic turf wars. The police station and the police who staff it, despite their historic role as a symbol of government authority and responsibility for public order, are woefully ill prepared and ill equipped to meet these challenges. This report, part of a project to increase Pakistan’s capacity to combat terrorism, explores the role police stations could and should play and suggests definitive steps to that end.