New internal security policy to centralise police operations
• Proposals seek integration of crime data at national level, interprovincial intelligence sharing, CTD for GB
• Interior ministry seeks input from all provincial police chiefs ahead of key meeting
• FIA DG underscores need for uniform mechanism across provinces, notes ‘serious disconnect’ between different agencies
LAHORE: The federal government has sought input from all police departments on a new internal security policy for the next five years, which aims to centralise police operations, improve interprovincial intelligence sharing, integrate crime data, and choke terror financing, among other measures.
The National Internal Security Policy 2026-30, which will be discussed at an ‘extraordinary meeting’ of the National Police Management Board (NPMB) later this month, will include inputs from all provincial IGPs as well as the police chiefs of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The interior ministry shared a set of proposals, furnished by some retired and serving police officers, with the police chiefs along with the agenda to be discussed at the NPMB meeting that will be held under the aegis of the National Police Bureau (NPB). The NPB, which is led by FIA chief Dr Usman Anwar, is going to assume a greater role in future in devising national reforms and strategies for all police departments.
The new policy is significant in light of the visit by the Chief of Defence Force Field Marshal Asim Munir to the National Police Academy in January 2026, where he emphasised that “a strong, professional, and people-centric police force” was indispensable for internal security and the rule of law.
Dawn learnt that the security establishment has extended full support to the civil law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for “showing no compromise in making the internal security impregnable”.
‘Enhanced role of NPB’
According to the documents shared with Dawn, certain former IGPs and serving officers contributed to the proposals that sought to enhance the role of the NPB in restructuring the police functions across the country. Some important issues include raising a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Gilgit-Baltistan, integration of police data at the national level, and centralisation of the International Driving Permit.
NPB and FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar has been made the convener of the upcoming NPMB meeting. Talking to Dawn, he said that there was a “serious disconnect” between various civil LEAs and similarly, many emerging policing challenges needed to be addressed before it was too late.
“It is a dire need of the time to establish a uniform mechanism across provinces and collaborate with international and domestic intelligence agencies to fight terrorism and choke terrorist financing,” Dr Usman said. He said the heads of the police organisations have been officially asked to submit their actionable points to be made part of the agenda for the upcoming meeting. A focal person (BS 20 officer) has been designated by the interior ministry for coordination with the provinces in this respect, he added.
“The upcoming meeting shall also deliberate upon the functional specialisation, police welfare, transnational crimes, criminal data integration, training needs assessment, women police networking, interprovincial intelligence sharing, and development of CTD in GB,” he said.
Meanwhile, former NPB DG Tariq Khosa suggested that the existing National Security Policy was going to be completed in 2026. “We should come up with recommendations on a new national internal security policy 2026-30,” he said.
He added that a steering committee headed by NPB should be notified by the interior ministry to furnish recommendations for the standardisation of firearms legislation. Khosa also proposed that a National Criminal Record Access System be developed to integrate police data at the national level.
He further suggested that the NPB should act as ‘PHQ’ (Police Headquarters) for the “Pakistan police” like the GHQ is for the Pakistan Army. “In addition to sufficient annual budgetary allocations for NPB, a special allocation of budget (Rs30 million) should be requested from the government,” the former NPB DG said.
A retired senior officer said multiple areas in police administration over the years exposed structural fault lines impeding the overall performance of the police department in Pakistan. He said the capacity of the police in countering terrorism, insurgencies, and traditional and emerging crimes was “dismal”. The officer claimed that the move made by the NPB seemed to be the continuation of the policy layout of the ‘hard state’.
Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2026
