Actions needed to restore public confidence

‘Any attempt to worsen the law-and-order situation will be dealt with firmly… Strict action is being taken against criminals regardless of political affiliation.’ 

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed made the statement on Sunday, following a series of brazen attacks by armed miscreants in different parts of the capital over the previous three days.

It was a familiar assurance. Perhaps too familiar.

Top BNP leaders, ministers and law enforcers have repeatedly made similar declarations whenever something untoward happens in the country. Yet the words have done little to ease a growing sense of insecurity among ordinary citizens.

The latest incidents have only deepened that feeling.

The attack and looting of the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur-1, the vandalism of content creator Salman Muqtadir’s BrownFish Studio near ECB Chattar, the ransacking of an office in Chand Udyan Housing in Mohammadpur, and an armed attempt to take control of a building in Adabor – all took place within a short period.

Indeed, the incidents were different in nature. However, taken together, they painted a disturbing picture: people willing to use force, intimidation and violence to get what they want.

What makes these incidents particularly worrying is not simply the crimes themselves, but the apparent ease with which they were carried out.

Criminals are no longer operating in the shadows or in remote corners anymore. They are striking in broad daylight, on busy streets and in populated neighbourhoods, sometimes in full view of others.

In the Radda case, a preliminary police inquiry reportedly found evidence of inaction and negligence even though police personnel were present at the scene.

That is where a law-and-order problem begins to turn into a crisis of confidence.

For ordinary citizens, the damage caused by a crime does not end with the crime itself. It lingers in the fear that follows – the unsettling belief that no one is entirely safe.

Can one walk home after dark without worrying about being mugged? Can a small businessman run a business without fearing extortion or armed intimidation? Can parents feel confident that their children will return home safe? Can a person expect the police to intervene when a crime is taking place in front of them?

These are most basic expectations citizens have of the state. When those expectations begin to weaken, confidence in law enforcement weakens with them.

Meanwhile, the available statistics present a complicated picture.

According to Police Headquarters, 286 murder cases, 154 robbery cases and 42 dacoity cases were recorded nationwide in August. A total of 2,156 cases involving violence against women and children were also filed during the month.

In the first eight months of the year, police recorded 2,362 murder cases, 1,221 robbery cases and 359 dacoity cases, along with 14,602 cases related to violence against women and children.

The comparison with August last year does not show a uniform rise in all major crimes either. Murder, robbery and dacoity cases were lower in August this year than in August 2025, although this comes with statistical complications because some previous killings were included in last year's August figures.

At the same time, police data show that cases involving violence against women and children increased in August this year compared with the same month last year.

The government could point to these figures as evidence that the overall law-and-order situation has improved.

Besides, the figures matter. It would be misleading to suggest that every category of crime is rising or that the country has descended into complete lawlessness.

However, crime statistics are not a perfect measure of the reality experienced by citizens. Registered cases can be influenced by reporting behaviour, access to the police and the way cases are recorded.

More importantly, statistics cannot fully capture the psychological dimension of public safety.

A single brazen crime committed in broad daylight can leave a deeper impression than several less visible offences. Repeated incidents in which criminals appear able to operate openly – or in which police are perceived as slow or ineffective – can create a sense that the risks are greater than the official numbers suggest.

That is why the government's response cannot end with only arrests after a crime has already occurred.

The law enforcement agencies have acted quickly in many cases. Suspects have been arrested, and investigations launched. However, arrests after an incident do not necessarily reassure people who are asking a different question: could the crime have been prevented in the first place?

The Radda incident is particularly significant. The home minister himself said preliminary evidence of police negligence had been found, while the officer-in-charge of Shah Ali Police Station was withdrawn pending departmental proceedings.

The incident raises a question of whether police have fully regained the effectiveness, confidence and public trust it needs to prevent crime and respond decisively when it occurs.

That question matters because public confidence in law and order does not rest simply on the number of arrests.

It rests on the belief that crimes will be prevented where possible, complaints will be taken seriously, investigations will be professional, cases will be prosecuted properly, and offenders will ultimately face consequences.

The government has made restoring law and order a top priority. That priority now needs to be visible not only in official statements, but on the streets themselves.

No government can eliminate crime. That is not a realistic expectation. However, people should be able to believe that criminals are more likely to face the law than ordinary citizens are to become their victims.

They should be able to walk through their neighbourhoods after dark without fear, run a business without worrying about extortion, and go to work without wondering whether they will return safely.

When a crime occurs, they should have confidence that the police will respond – not merely after the damage is done, but when intervention can still make a difference.

Restoring that confidence will require more than repeated warnings, transfers and post-incident crackdowns.

It will require stronger policing on the ground, better intelligence and prevention, effective investigations, successful prosecutions and accountability for negligence within law-enforcement agencies.

It will also require political parties to exercise greater discipline among their own activists and supporters, and to ensure that political connections do not become a shield against the law.

Ultimately, the test of law and order is not simply how many criminals are arrested after an incident.

It is whether ordinary people feel that the law is present before the crime happens.

When citizens begin to fear criminals more than criminals fear the law, the problem is no longer simply crime. It is a crisis of public confidence.

Rebuilding that confidence may be the government's most important law-and-order task.