Saturday, November 26, 2011

Govt looking to institutionalize community policing

NEW DELHI: In a move to involve the local community in policing in a systematic manner, the government is considering institutionalizing the mechanism by creating a separate wing of 'Community Policing' (CoP) in the existing police department.

Once set up, CoP members will be given a different uniform from that of regular police forces in the country. This was stated by home minister P Chidambaram on Friday while responding to suggestions of parliamentarians during a consultative committee meeting of his ministry.

He said various initiatives had been taken in different cities and states to involve community members in the policing process, overcome the problems faced by public and provide assistance to victims of crime.

Referring to different CoP models being implemented in various parts of the country, Chidambaram said the Kerala model was one of the best while Delhi and Tamil Nadu models had also met with some success. He told the participants that new courses were being developed in police academy to sensitise the police on their role in community policing.

The CoP initiative is built on the idea that community interaction and support can help in controlling crime. It requires partnership between police and citizens and uses different strategies such as foot patrolling, traffic management and problem solving through negotiations at neighbourhood level.

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