Beyond the Uniform: Duty, Discretion and Public Trust Citizen-Friendly and Responsive Policing

Shaping the future of policing in India

At the centre of every democracy stands a uniformed figure—watchful and entrusted with enforcing the law. But what makes the police a service citizens trust rather than a force they fear?

Beyond the Uniform: Duty, Discretion and Public Trust is an examination of Indian policing—its colonial inheritances, structural distortions and the need for reform. Drawing upon constitutional principles,
key interventions of the Supreme Court of India and over three decades of service, author O.P. Mishra identifies systemic gaps that hinder humane service delivery and accountability and erode public
faith in the system: delays in registering FIRs, unnecessary arrests, custodial violence, corruption at the thana level and political interference in postings and investigations.

Yet this book is not merely a critique. It is also a blueprint for change. By looking at recent legal reforms such as the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, the growing role of forensic science and technology-driven investigations, the book argues for a policing
culture grounded in professionalism, transparency and empathy.

Beyond the Uniform asks a question vital to every democracy: can authority earn public trust?
The answer, it suggests, will shape the future of policing in India.