The ‘State Capacity & Access to Justice’ webinar series sits within IDFC Institute’s Access to Justice initiative. The series is conceptualised as a platform for sharing learnings that enhance the state’s capacity to deliver a more equitable and accessible form of justice.
About the event:
The third session featured Dr Arvind Verma, Professor, Centre for Criminal Justice Research, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur on 22 July. Dr Verma discussed the imperative for building partnerships between police and researchers in India. He presented the case of the nineteenth-century American police, and the role that research played in building the momentum for their reform through improvements in effectiveness, transparency and accountability. Arguing that research is an enterprise that fosters creativity and new ways of looking at problems, Dr Verma suggested it may be a ‘path to reform’ for police in India as well. Dr Verma explained how policing is inherently political in nature due to the discretionary powers of arrest at the disposal of police personnel. Instead of focussing on politicisation as a form of political control where police officers are helpless, Dr Verma suggested that politicisation should be thought about as a system. This system should have a mechanism to help control and supervise police discretion and hold the police accountable for their actions and inactions. Against this context, Dr Verma delved into the historical underpinnings of research-led police reform in the United States.
About the speaker:
Dr. Arvind Verma
Dr Arvind Verma is a Professor at the Centre for Criminal Justice Research, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Associate Director of the India Studies Programme at Indiana University. He has been a member of the Indian Police Service (IPS) and has served for many years in the State of Bihar, holding several senior positions in the organisation. Dr Verma recently established a Centre for Criminal Justice Research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. His current research interests are in policing; criminal justice policy issues, Indian police, research methods, mathematical modelling, and agent-based simulation.