Research Questions Police Interrogations

Kansas City, Mo, (U.S.A)

Eddie lowery spent 10 years in prison after confessing to a rape of 75-year-old victim in the head with the handle of a silver table knife he found in the house, he did not commit. DNA evidence would later show that another man had committed the crime. He got a $7.5 million settlement. It is one such revelation out of a record compiled for more than 40 cases of confessions by Brandon L.Garrett, a Professor at the University of Virginia school of Law.

(The N.Y Times, [A13] Tuesday, September14, 2010)

What a Wait for Justice even in USA?

In Feb 2007 Alberto R. Gonzales, the Attorney General under President George W. Bush declared that the window of opportunity to solve racially motivated crimes more than 40 years old was closing. But families of the victims are still waiting for the last three years for solid action after waiting for decades for resolution, while suspects and witnesses have died.


President Obama’s Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has promoted his department’s handling of these cases pointing out that 56 of 109 cases have been closed many of which had seen the closure because the suspect is dead. A partly natural disposal!


We are not short of such success stories in India too. Take for instance the riot cases in Delhi as the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Mismatch between the study and the job?

What we notice in the work place these days is the fact that what one has studied in the college and university has no relevance to the job he does esp. in countries like USA and India. It is true more of highly skilled people seeking jobs after graduation. Vikas Bajaj in his article “A High-Tech Titan Plagued by Potholes” talks of the plight of civil engineers who are writing software code for auto companies in A.C rooms – getting three times the normal pay available as a civil engineer on construction by lamenting the situation as  “India’s Engineering Paradox” .

 

Indian government aims to spend $500 billion on infrastructure by 2012 and twice that amount in the following 5 years. What is the preparation and motivation needed for such a collosal program to be executed in time? One is not aware of any systematic and conscious planning in the creation and management of technical man-power at various levels as per the requirements in this regard. Hope for the best.