The Punjab Police (abbreviated as PP) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the state of Punjab, India. The Punjab Police has a broad array of specialised services, including the prevention and detection of crime, maintenance of law and order and the enforcement of the Constitution of India. Its headquarters are located at Jan Marg, Chandigarh. On 7 September 2011, Punjab Police started a video conferencing service to redress problems of NRIs. The present DGP of the Punjab Police is Gaurav Yadav. He is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1992 batch.

History

After the Indian independence, the Punjab police was initially responsible for the protection of the Indo-Pakistan border as well as the Indo-Chinese borders before the BSF and ITBP were created.

Rapid Rural Police Response System

Punjab is the first state of India to have a Rapid Rural Police Response System which provides City PCR-like response service in rural areas. As the Punjab Police adopted the Computer-Aided-Dispatch (CAD) system for Dial 112 system, 289 four-wheelers and 724 GPS fitted motorcycles are being used.

Punjab Highway Patrol

The Punjab Police has a global positioning system (GPS) tracker and a vehicle registration search device, equipped with highway patrol vehicles.

Crime Investigation Agency

The Crime Investigation Agency or CIA staff is a special branch of the Punjab Police. The crucial or unsolved criminal cases like smuggling, kidnapping, narcotics, terrorism and murder are handed over to them. This branch of the police is known for its ways of interrogating the culprit who committed the crime.

Night policing scheme

Punjab is the first state in the country to launch a night policing scheme with an independent cadre, command and structure of a 4,000 strong police force for prevention of offences at night time.

Punjab Bureau of Investigation

The Punjab Bureau of Investigation was set up in 2019 with 4521 dedicated new posts. Punjab is the first state of India to form a Bureau of Investigation, and separated law and order duties from investigation functions by bringing all investigation staff of 7,772 under a unified wing command. The Bureau of Investigation investigates civil and criminal cases registered at various police stations and is equipped with:

Training centres

Khelan

Armed battalions

The headquarters of the Punjab Armed Police are located at Jalandhar while the India Reserve Battalions are stationed at Sangrur, Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar and the Punjab Commando Police at Bahadurgarh (Patiala) and S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali).

Weapons and equipment

The Punjab Police was equipped with the .303 rifles, AK-47, AK-56 and 561 Sten guns, but modernisation with advanced weapons is now taking place.

Vehicles

The Punjab Police has 3083 vehicles and patrol cars like the Mahindra Scorpio Getaways and Maruti Gypsys. The PP also has motorcycles equipped with GPS and multi-utility vehicles equipped with GPS and CCTV cameras.

Cyber Crime Cell Punjab

The Punjab Police has a dedicated cybercrime cell to deal with cybercrime in the state headed by an ADGP-ranked police officer, having an office in Phase 4, S.A.S Nagar.

Punjab SWAT

The Punjab Police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was formed in 2010. The officers are usually tasked with protection duties. They are highly trained on the lines of the National Security Guard by Israel's Mossad through private company Athena Security, deployed by the Punjab Government. All the commandos are under 28 years of age, thus making them fit and capable of tasks meant for commandos. Their main work is to fight against any terrorist attack if it occurs in Punjab. They have been trained exclusively in Krav Maga, room intervention, close and open techniques and other secret tactics. The SWAT is provided with various state-of-the-art equipment and the latest technology. The teams are provided with: Weapons

Major operation

The Punjab SWAT handled counter-terrorism operation at Dina Nagar Police Station in a 2015 Gurdaspur attack by killing all three suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.

Commemoration Day

Every year, 21 October is celebrated as Commemoration Day by the Punjab Police.

Hierarchy

Officers Sub-ordinates

In popular culture

Members of the Punjab Police have been frequently portrayed in films. Some of the prominent ones are:

Punjabi films

Hindi films

Sporting division

Praise

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Home Minister of India praised the Punjab Police saying, "I know the difficulties and disasters which overtook the Punjab Police during the period of partition. Your force was depleted terribly and quickly you had to begin from a scratch. After such a partition and the period of communal disturbances a parallel of which is not known, you had to face great difficulties and you have in fact performed a miracle in reorganising your force in such a short time and such a splendid manner."