LAHORE: On the directions of the Chief Minister of Punjab, police authorities have begun compiling lists of Station House Officers as part of a move against corrupt and dishonest officials.
According to police sources, confidential reports and records are being collected on SHOs posted across Punjab, while a secret survey has also been launched among residents of respective localities regarding the performance and reputation of these officers.
Reports on SHOs have additionally been sought from the police, Special Branch and other relevant institutions. Sources said final action will be taken after verification of all reports and records.
According to DIG Operations Faisal Kamran, the standard operating procedures of the IG’s office are being strictly implemented in the posting of SHOs. Officers with a record of corruption cases will not be permitted to remain SHOs, he said, and action will be taken against officials involved in corruption under a zero-tolerance policy.
Police sources said that institutional reports, criminal records and details of corruption cases will shortly be forwarded to the CCPO Lahore.
The focus on the SHO tier reflects that position’s particular significance in the policing structure. The Station House Officer commands a police station and exercises the widest discretion of any officer the public routinely encounters — over the registration of an FIR, the conduct of investigation, the treatment of complainants and accused, and the deployment of station resources. That discretion is the reason the post is simultaneously the most sought-after posting at its rank and the most frequent subject of complaint.
The inclusion of a public reputation survey is a notable methodological element. Departmental records capture only what has been formally recorded — inquiries initiated, cases registered, adverse remarks entered in service files. They do not capture patterns of conduct that never reach the stage of a written complaint, which is precisely the gap that direct feedback from residents is intended to fill.
The involvement of the Special Branch, which maintains its own reporting channels independent of the district police hierarchy, adds a further verification layer designed to reduce the risk that assessments are shaped by local command relationships.
Punjab Police have periodically undertaken screening exercises of this kind, typically at the outset of a reform push or a change in provincial leadership. Their effectiveness has historically depended less on the compilation of lists than on whether adverse findings translate into durable postings decisions — and whether officers removed from station commands are prevented from returning to equivalent posts elsewhere in the province.
The reference to SOPs issued by the IG’s office indicates that eligibility criteria for SHO postings already exist on paper. The current exercise is therefore framed as an enforcement measure rather than a new policy: matching the officers currently in post against standards already notified.
Transmission of the compiled record to the CCPO Lahore, who commands the largest police force in the province, would place the capital’s station-level appointments under the same screening framework.
Officials said final decisions will follow the completion of verification.
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