Out of 6 new IPS officers allotted to the state this year, zero were from Odisha. Not one. With 63 vacancies and no promoted IPS officers from the State Police Service, the state’s police leadership is increasingly disconnected from its own people. The last Odia-born DGP? 2012. Now, insiders like Sudhansu Sarangi; a 1990-batch officer and Odisha native; are in the spotlight. But winning the top post isn’t the real challenge. The real test? Fixing a broken system; where local officers don’t rise, promotions stall, and 34 districts are mostly run by outsiders. Without reform, even the best DGP will inherit a force at odds with its own turf.