Special Police Officers (SPOs): Nothing special about them!

Who are Special Police Officers (SPOs)? This deserves a mention since I heard a news reporter suggesting that the SPOs were actually specially trained and so on. The term SPO is a euphemism for locally recruited ad hoc policemen. They are locals and that is their biggest strength - they know the land, the language, the locals and they have not joined the Naxals. They are not trained in classical policing - however they learn the basics on the job. They are a major asset to the regular security forces since they work like guides, intelligence sources, interpreters and so on. The negatives are that they are susceptible to subversion, liable to use their newly acquired status to settle personal scores and their families are likely to be targetted by insurgencies/Naxals.