as an institution in India was first developed by the British as an instrument of control. The 1861 Police Act, which remains "the institutional bedrock across the country", configured the police to focus less on public service and crime investigation, and more on "coercive order keeping and crowd pacification". Second, the police in postcolonial India are affected by the same corruption and abuse of power that has plagued the government in general. Police have historically been known to apply excessive force, extortion, and arbitrary and often discriminatory use of authority. See also Indian Armed Forces Judiciary of India Indian Penal Code Indian criminal law Government of India Mass surveillance in India List of Indian intelligence agencies National Counter Terrorism Centre Police Complaints Authority (India) Indian Police Foundation and Institute List of cases of police brutality in India Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems List of countries and dependencies by number of police officers References External links