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Kerala shows the way with friendly community policing
Citizens’ committees to ensure better relations with the men in khaki....Don Sebastian.Thiruvananthapuram Your friendly neighbourhood postman may have discarded khaki for a brand new blue uniform. But there are the real men in khaki coming to the neighbourhood, that too in a friendly manner. At least 20 police stations in Kerala have deputed beat officers per 500 houses to collect and probe complaints from the residents in addition to routine chores like serving of summons and warrants.
Cops in Kerala finally got an opportunity to grow from their villainous image reinforced in countless movies, when the state-level community policing model was inaugurated by chief minister VS Achuthanandan in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. In the first phase, Jana Maithri Suraksha programme would cover three corporations and 11 municipalities in the state.
Community policing was first mooted by Justice KT Thomas commission on police accountability, appointed by the previous government. “The commission had not put forward any definite plan for community policing. The home department interacted with experts and prepared the guidelines for Jana Maithri,” he added. The scheme was launched in select police stations in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
The novel project is aimed at reforming the image of the police, formed by the British as a repressive arm on the model of the Irish Armed Constabulary. “It’s not a panacea for all the problems ailing the police force. But the programme will lessen the distance between the police and the people,” the minister said.
Different from the conventional method, community policing envisages the force to get down to the masses. The programme involves the formation of a citizens’ committee to interact with the local police, combined combing by the police officers and local people, coordination of private security guards and a watch over strangers in the locality. The programme, launched in 20 of the 450 police stations in the state, will gradually cover the entire state. A beat officer will be in charge of an area covering 500 houses. The area will not be larger than three square kilometres. He will be in charge of serving summons and warrants and receiving complaints in the locality.
More importantly, Jana Maithri committees, comprising elected representatives, teachers, retired police officers, ex-servicemen, cultural activists and other important persons in the locality, will be formed to convey the security apprehensions of the people to the police. The plan also involves the stranger check programme to monitor visiting people.
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