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By ERIC BELLMAN
MUMBAI -- In the Worli Camp district here, a stretch of crumbling concrete buildings that houses thousands of police and their families, residents are grappling with the aftershocks of the terror attacks that left 16 police among the 171 dead and unleashed scorn on the force.
Since the attacks ended Nov. 29, many have wondered how Mumbai's police force of 42,000 failed to present any meaningful challenge to 10 terrorists with assault rifles and grenades. But for the 5,000 inhabitants of this police ghetto, with its grocery store, hospital and temples just for law-enforcement officials, the attacks delivered a more complex message.
The deaths in the line of duty and the capture of one terror suspect alive have been a cause for pride and sadness. Criticism of the police reaction to the attacks has added anger to the mix of emotions.
"Everyone is always blaming the police," says Assistant Police Inspector Sanjay Govilkar, who grew up in Worli Camp, a British military encampment before India gained independence in 1947; his father was a policeman too. "I want people to look toward us positively, not hate us."
India's police force hasn't expanded to match its vast population. The number of police per 100,000 people has slipped to 125 today from 134 in 1996, according to India's National Crime Record Bureau. That compares with a global average of more than 200 per 100,000 people, experts say. Most police work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, for which they make less than $200 a month. The vast majority are armed only with bamboo sticks called lathis. The government has been criticized for the force's lack of preparation. And the shortcomings in the police response have added to a stereotype across India of police as pot-bellied, mustachioed men more interested in squeezing a bribe out of citizens than in keeping the peace.
Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group, which runs the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, one of the hotels that was targeted, cited the security services' lack of readiness for the severity of the attacks. "The police were not equipped to engage," he told a local news channel last week. "There didn't seem means to get reinforcements."
The government has since announce plans to beef up the police system with a national investigative force and more rapid-action forces. It's also pledged to improve training and equipment.
For many at Worli Camp, the terror attacks confirmed that Mumbai's force is underequipped and overworked. Psychologists maintain that in India, as elsewhere, depression, alcoholism and suicide are chronic problems for police. In the wake of the attacks, many police are also struggling with anger, guilt and post-traumatic stress.
Mr. Govilkar, 40 years old, wasn't working Nov. 26, the day the attacks began. Like many other police in Worli Camp that day, he jumped in a taxi and went to help. Later that night, he was shot in the back during fighting with two of the alleged terrorists when they drove a hijacked car into a police roadblock. Though the 16 police manning the roadblock had only two handguns among them, they killed one of the attackers and caught the other -- the only one to be captured alive.
Today, Mr. Govilkar's wound is healing, but he is having trouble sleeping. He misses three police friends who were killed, he said. He wishes the force had better equipment and training -- and that people understood how hard the police work.
"I was devastated. Our man was killed right in front of me," he said at his family's one-bedroom home in Block 25 of Worli Camp. "The police force is my family."
Attitudes toward the police have changed in Mumbai since Mr. Govilkar joined the force in the early 1990s. Back then, police often were portrayed as heroes in Bollywood movies. Today they are more likely to be the bad guys. Over the past 20 years, members of the Mumbai force have been charged with crimes such as murder and rape and with participating in attacks on Muslims during religious riots.
Worli Camp residents say the police did their best with what they had. "This should never have happened," said Nilesh Kadam, a third-generation policeman, sitting in front of his home in Worli Camp with his one-year-old daughter hanging on his knee. "How are you going to stop a terrorist with a night stick?"
The camp is full of billboards with the faces of the dead police. "Worli Camp Salutes Those Killed in the Terrorist Attacks. Theirs was a Hero's Death." reads one. Even the children pretend to be heroes. "Let's play Taj hotel," said one boy. "That person there could be a terrorist."
Some good has come in the aftermath of the attacks, Mr. Govilkar said. He is getting respect from many of his friends and relatives for the first time, and he has received awards from the Mumbai Rotary and Lions Clubs for his valor.
In the past, his 11-year-old son Parth had shown little interest in following him into the service. But after the Lions Club ceremony, Parth surprised his father by announcing that he, too, has decided to become a policeman.
Police Morale Takes a Hit In Wake of Mumbai Attacks - WSJ.com
MUMBAI -- In the Worli Camp district here, a stretch of crumbling concrete buildings that houses thousands of police and their families, residents are grappling with the aftershocks of the terror attacks that left 16 police among the 171 dead and unleashed scorn on the force.
Since the attacks ended Nov. 29, many have wondered how Mumbai's police force of 42,000 failed to present any meaningful challenge to 10 terrorists with assault rifles and grenades. But for the 5,000 inhabitants of this police ghetto, with its grocery store, hospital and temples just for law-enforcement officials, the attacks delivered a more complex message.
The deaths in the line of duty and the capture of one terror suspect alive have been a cause for pride and sadness. Criticism of the police reaction to the attacks has added anger to the mix of emotions.
"Everyone is always blaming the police," says Assistant Police Inspector Sanjay Govilkar, who grew up in Worli Camp, a British military encampment before India gained independence in 1947; his father was a policeman too. "I want people to look toward us positively, not hate us."
India's police force hasn't expanded to match its vast population. The number of police per 100,000 people has slipped to 125 today from 134 in 1996, according to India's National Crime Record Bureau. That compares with a global average of more than 200 per 100,000 people, experts say. Most police work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, for which they make less than $200 a month. The vast majority are armed only with bamboo sticks called lathis. The government has been criticized for the force's lack of preparation. And the shortcomings in the police response have added to a stereotype across India of police as pot-bellied, mustachioed men more interested in squeezing a bribe out of citizens than in keeping the peace.
Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group, which runs the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, one of the hotels that was targeted, cited the security services' lack of readiness for the severity of the attacks. "The police were not equipped to engage," he told a local news channel last week. "There didn't seem means to get reinforcements."
The government has since announce plans to beef up the police system with a national investigative force and more rapid-action forces. It's also pledged to improve training and equipment.
For many at Worli Camp, the terror attacks confirmed that Mumbai's force is underequipped and overworked. Psychologists maintain that in India, as elsewhere, depression, alcoholism and suicide are chronic problems for police. In the wake of the attacks, many police are also struggling with anger, guilt and post-traumatic stress.
Mr. Govilkar, 40 years old, wasn't working Nov. 26, the day the attacks began. Like many other police in Worli Camp that day, he jumped in a taxi and went to help. Later that night, he was shot in the back during fighting with two of the alleged terrorists when they drove a hijacked car into a police roadblock. Though the 16 police manning the roadblock had only two handguns among them, they killed one of the attackers and caught the other -- the only one to be captured alive.
Today, Mr. Govilkar's wound is healing, but he is having trouble sleeping. He misses three police friends who were killed, he said. He wishes the force had better equipment and training -- and that people understood how hard the police work.
"I was devastated. Our man was killed right in front of me," he said at his family's one-bedroom home in Block 25 of Worli Camp. "The police force is my family."
Attitudes toward the police have changed in Mumbai since Mr. Govilkar joined the force in the early 1990s. Back then, police often were portrayed as heroes in Bollywood movies. Today they are more likely to be the bad guys. Over the past 20 years, members of the Mumbai force have been charged with crimes such as murder and rape and with participating in attacks on Muslims during religious riots.
Worli Camp residents say the police did their best with what they had. "This should never have happened," said Nilesh Kadam, a third-generation policeman, sitting in front of his home in Worli Camp with his one-year-old daughter hanging on his knee. "How are you going to stop a terrorist with a night stick?"
The camp is full of billboards with the faces of the dead police. "Worli Camp Salutes Those Killed in the Terrorist Attacks. Theirs was a Hero's Death." reads one. Even the children pretend to be heroes. "Let's play Taj hotel," said one boy. "That person there could be a terrorist."
Some good has come in the aftermath of the attacks, Mr. Govilkar said. He is getting respect from many of his friends and relatives for the first time, and he has received awards from the Mumbai Rotary and Lions Clubs for his valor.
In the past, his 11-year-old son Parth had shown little interest in following him into the service. But after the Lions Club ceremony, Parth surprised his father by announcing that he, too, has decided to become a policeman.
Police Morale Takes a Hit In Wake of Mumbai Attacks - WSJ.com