Performance Culture in Policing
Policing is often described as a numbers-driven profession, where success is measured by statistics – arrests made, charge sheets filed, or response times recorded. Yet the essence of policing is not found in spreadsheets. It lives in the human connections officers build through resilience, compassion, and service. These moments matter far more than numerical targets, but modern policing has become trapped in a “performance culture” that prizes data over humanity. This shift is damaging officers, eroding public trust, and undermining the very foundations of community safety.
The Tyranny of the Spreadsheet
Policing today is stuck in a system that cares too much about numbers. Success is often judged by things like how many arrests were made, how fast officers responded, or how many reports were written or charge sheets submitted. This way of thinking – sometimes called the “Tyranny of the Spreadsheet” – makes it seem like officers are doing a good job only if they meet certain targets.
Because of this, many officers feel pressured to chase numbers instead of focusing on helping people. For example, an officer might spend a whole shift dealing with three terrible car crashes, offering support to victims and managing the scene. But later, they could be told they didn’t do enough because they didn’t file enough “intelligence logs.” The pain and stress they went through doesn’t count – only the paperwork does.
This obsession with data gives senior leaders a false picture of success. It helps them look good in meetings, but it hides the real work that matters: building trust, showing compassion, and handling tough emotional situations. These human parts of policing are hard to measure, but they are what truly make a difference in communities.
The Heart Of Policing Can’t Be Measured By Numbers
The true spirit of policing is about people. It’s found in small acts of kindness, tough conversations, and the strength officers show when dealing with painful situations. These are the things that build trust, keep communities safe, and help prevent future problems – but they don’t show up in charts or reports or Performance Appraisal Report (PAR).
- Compassion And Listening: When an officer sits with someone who’s been hurt or scared, offering comfort and understanding, that moment matters deeply. But it won’t be counted in any arrest record or report.
- Community Building: A friendly chat with teenagers or showing a child the flashing lights on a police car might seem small, but it helps build trust that can last for years.
- Emotional Strength: Officers often face tragic events – like deadly accidents or violent crimes. These experiences leave emotional scars, but the system doesn’t measure that pain. It only counts paperwork.
When officers are scolded for not writing enough reports after dealing with several deaths in one shift, it shows something is wrong. The system cares more about numbers than about the real human cost. It values forms over feelings, and statistics over service. That needs to change.
A System That Serves Itself, Not The Public
The way policing is managed today often puts numbers ahead of people. Senior leaders use statistics – like arrest counts or reports filed or charge sheets submitted – not to improve public safety, but to make themselves look good. This creates a cycle where numbers are played with, targets are treated like games, and real police work gets pushed aside.
Beyond Numbers – Rethinking Policing Priorities In India
In India, the dangers of a performance-driven policing culture are equally visible. Targets such as numbers of charge sheets filed, cases disposed, or arrests made often become the benchmark of “success,” overshadowing the deeper responsibilities of building trust with diverse communities. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) produces vast statistical reports each year, but these rarely reflect the quality of victim care, the handling of vulnerable groups, or the emotional toll borne by officers dealing with communal tensions, custodial deaths, and mass-casualty events. The Indian police system, already under strain from chronic understaffing and resource limitations, risks reducing its role to that of a data-producing agency unless reforms shift the focus towards service, accountability, and empathy.
Behind The Numbers – The Mental Health Crisis In Indian Policing
Beyond the statistics lies a troubling truth: Indian police officers face a serious mental health crisis. According to NCRB data, over 100 police suicides are reported every year, with 108 cases recorded in 2021. Long hours, lack of regular leave, political pressure, and unrealistic performance targets all contribute to high levels of stress. Yet, these tragedies are rarely considered in performance reviews or policy reforms.
For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Maharashtra police saw a rise in suicides. Officers were stretched thin – enforcing lockdowns, handling migrant issues, and continuing regular duties – all without proper mental health support. Despite these warning signs, reforms like counselling, peer support, or stress management training remain limited.
The system continues to count arrests and charge sheets and convictions, but not trauma, stress, or well-being. This shows how deeply disconnected it is from the human cost of policing.
Understaffed And Overloaded
India has too few police officers – only about 152 for every one lakh people, which is much lower than the UN’s recommended number of 222. Because of this shortage, officers often have to handle many tasks at once, working long hours without enough rest or support.
This pressure means their work is judged by quick and easy-to-count results, like how many charge sheets they file, FIRs they register, or arrests they make. But these numbers don’t show how fair or thorough the investigations are.
For example, after the 2020 Delhi riots, human rights groups said police were overwhelmed and focused more on filing lots of cases than on protecting victims or ensuring fair investigations. Similarly, during elections, officers are pushed to meet targets for “seizures” and “arrests,” which often takes attention away from community work and preventing crime.
Lopsided Performance Appraisal Systems
In India, police performance is often evaluated through Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs), Performance Appraisal Reports (PARs), or Self-Appraisal Reports, which place disproportionate emphasis on easily quantifiable outputs such as arrests made, cases registered, or targets achieved. For instance, during the 2020 Delhi riots, officers who spent hours de-escalating communal tensions, protecting vulnerable communities, and managing chaotic scenes received little recognition in their ACRs because these efforts did not translate into measurable statistics.
Similarly, in rural areas during election duties or law-and-order enforcement, officers who worked extensively on community sensitization, dispute mediation, or victim support often scored lower than those who mechanically completed paperwork or met numeric targets. This lopsided appraisal culture incentivizes chasing numbers over meaningful service, discourages innovative problem-solving, and can erode morale. Over time, the constant pressure to perform on paper contributes significantly to stress, burnout, and mental health challenges, further weakening the capacity of officers to serve communities effectively.
Here’s what happens because of this:
- Too Much Pressure: Officers are forced to meet targets that don’t match what the community actually needs. This leads to stress, tiredness, and feeling hopeless.
- Losing Sight Of The Real Job: Leaders spend so much time looking at data that they forget the true goal of policing – helping and protecting people.
- Good Officers Leave: Many officers join the force because they want to make a difference. But when they’re stuck in a system that only cares about numbers, they feel disappointed and often quit.
This kind of culture doesn’t help the public or the police. It needs to change.
The Disconnect Of Data
One of the biggest signs that the current system is broken is what it chooses to measure – and what it leaves out. Police departments often focus on numbers like arrests, charge sheets, convictions, and stop-and-searches. But many have failed to keep track of something far more serious: police suicides.
This isn’t just a sad mistake – it shows where the system’s priorities really are. The focus is on looking good from the outside, not on caring for the people inside. The data collected is meant to impress others, not to make things better.
Important issues like stress, trauma, and mental health are ignored because they don’t fit into neat charts or reports. The human cost of policing is real, but the system doesn’t count it – and that needs to change.
A New Way Forward
Policing must be reimagined as a vocation, not a business. It should be rooted in empathy, service, and community engagement. Success should be measured not by numbers, but by impact.
We must ask new questions:
- “How have you built trust in your beat this week?”
- “What conversations did you have that prevented escalation?”
- “What support do you need to cope with the emotional toll of your work?”
These questions honour the human side of policing. They recognize that listening to a victim, de-escalating a conflict, or simply being present in a community are acts of profound service. They cannot be quantified – but they must be valued.
It’s time to stop using the performance dashboard as the main way to judge success. Instead, we must create a work culture that values the quiet, heroic actions of officers who choose empathy and connection with people over simply trying to enforce rules and be in control.
The Unquantifiable Measure Of Success
So, what is the single most critical, unquantifiable measure of success for a police officer?
Trust.
Trust is earned in moments that never make it into reports. It’s built through consistency, compassion, and courage. It’s the foundation of community safety, the antidote to fear, and the bedrock of legitimacy. When citizens trust their police, they cooperate, they engage, and they feel safe. That trust cannot be measured – but it can be felt. And it must be protected.
Policing is not a numbers game. It’s a human endeavour. Let’s start treating it that way.
Conclusion
The “Performance Culture” has created a crisis in policing, reducing a deeply human vocation to a cold exercise in number-chasing. This obsession with spreadsheets – tracking arrests, reports, charge sheets, convictions, case disposals, and response times – fails to capture the true value of police work: the resilience, compassion, and trust built in unquantifiable moments. In India, this system is particularly harmful, driving a severe mental health crisis among officers while ignoring acts of de-escalation and community support that save lives.
We must stop using the dashboard as the ultimate judge of success. The future of policing lies in a fundamental shift towards valuing empathy over enforcement and connection over control. Only by prioritizing the welfare of officers and focusing on earning the public’s trust – the truest, unquantifiable measure of success – can we restore the dignity of service and genuinely enhance community safety.
Policing is not a business; it is a human endeavour, and it is time we treated it as such.
Reference: Performance Culture In Policing Needs To Stop, Ian Cook, Blue Light Lifestyle, United Kingdom
