* (C) 'SYSTEMIC REFORM: POLICE 3.40 With each succeeding year, the conviction of this Commission has increased, that there can be nosubstantial improvement in the human rights situation in this country unless those whose duty it is to protect such rights, cease to be predators themselves. This observation is especially relevant to the police, for the Commission has observed that a majority of the complaints that it has received relate to-the conduct of the police, many questioning its integrity. In particular, the complaints suggest that police investigations cannot be trusted, because of the extraneous pressures, political, executive or otherwise, that'are brought to bear on the' process. The police itself often complains of such strains adding, in good measure, that many of the most valuable suggestions for reform, emanating from the Police Reforms Commission and other thoughtful sources, have more often than not been ignored. 3.41 The Commission believes that the nation deserves a first-class police force, of the highest integrity, quality and dependability. It has therefore pursuedYhe question of police reform with determination. In its last Annual Report the Commission made the specific recommendation that the suggestions contained in Chapter XV of the Second Report of the Police Reforms Commission, as far back as'1979, be acted upon expeditiously. These suggestions related to (i) -the insulation of investigation work of the police from illegal or improper orders or pressure; (ii) the removal of the "Damoctes sword' of transfer from over the heads of Chiefs of Police in the States and fixity of tenure for them; and (iii) the constitution of statutory State Security Commissions so as to help the State Government "discharge its superintending responsibility in an open manner, under the framework of law." 3.42 The urging of the Commission for action along these lines has been the subject of repeated exchanges of views with the Central Government over the past year. During such exchanges, the Commission made clear that it was not wedded to every detail of the suggestions of the Police Reforms Commission but, rather, that it considered it essential to ensure that the spirit of those suggestions be met, so that the integrity of the police force be restored and human rights better protected. The Commission was therefore deeply appreciative of a letter which the Union Home Minister addressed to all Chief Ministers on 3 April 1997, on the subject of Police Reforms and Restructuring, in which he quoted extensively and favourably the recommendations of the National Police Commission and of this Commission. The Minister ended his communication with the observation "we have not only reiopened the so called closed chapter of police reform at our end, but we are also currently engaged in ensuring