Perks and Perils of Policing in Transition: A Qualitative Institutional Inquiry to Assess Weberian Model of Bureaucracy at Police offices of Punjab Pakistan

The research project was aimed at exploring how recent transitions within the policing institution are perceived by the locals and the employees as inimical or amicable for the tradition laden parochial policing system with a colonial history in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with police officers and local community from Sargodha Division of Punjab. A total of 24 in-depth interviews and 5 FGDs were conducted coupled with notes from the cite observation. Weberian model of organization served as a tool of pre-structuring of primary themes in the interview schedules and the resulting narratives were analysed using an established scheme of thematic analysis. Findings of the study helped enlisting various sociological dimensions of tradition and modern bureaucratic and normative dilemmas. It was found that organizational efficiency has increased owing to a series of amendments possible due to restructuring of relations through digitalization, transparency, improved pay structures etc. Similarly, the opinions of community and police differ on several themes.