WHY COMMUNITY POLICING ?

Policing involves delivery of law enforcement services to the community and traditional policing models have been reactive i.e. responding to calls for police service. The interaction of police with the citizens is thus mostly of an emergency nature when telephone calls are made to 100 number / police stations or otherwise crimes are reported. Police then swings into action. This is the traditional reactive model of law enforcement.

However there has been development of policing philosophy which focuses on the police being pro-active in delivering these services and having increased interface of the police with the community. The community policing model balances reactive responses to calls for service with pro-active community policing and problem solving.

DEFINITION

Community policing focuses on crime and social disorder through the delivery of police service that include traditional law enforcement as well as prevention, problem solving, community involvement and partnership. The community policing model balances reactive responses with pro-active problem solving, centered on the causes of the crime and disorder. Community policing requires police and citizens to join together as partners in the course of both identifying and effectively addressing issues.

Core Elements of Community Policing

There are three core elements of community policing which can be categorized as under:

1. Organizational elements.

2. Tactical elements.

3. External elements.

Organizational elements has following ingredients:-

1. Philosophy adopted - there should be a philosophy of broad objectives of the policing model which is reflected by the mission statements, policy and procedures, performance evaluation,training programme and other system and activities that define organizational culture and activities of a particular police force.

2. Decentralized decision making and accountability - field officers are given greater authority to solve problems but at the same time are accountable for their action.

3. Fixing geographical accountability - appropriate personnel are   assigned to fixed geographical areas for extended periods of time in order to foster communication and partnership between the police officers and the community.

4. Utilization of voluntary resources - community policing encourages the use of citizens to assist the law enforcement agency. Volunteerism involves active citizens' participation.

5. Enhancers - there are a number of enhancers and facilitators including updated technology and information systems which support better resources and personnel deployment.

Tactical elements would involve the following three strategies :-

1. Enforcement of law - is the bedrock of any law enforcement agency. In addition, the police also identifies laws that need to be amended or enacted in partnership with the community. This allows the police agency to address underlying conditions that lead to crime while strongly enforcing breaches in the laws.

2. Pro-activity - crime prevention oriented law enforcement focuses not only on responses to calls for service but also on collaboration with the community in prevention and problem solving activities.

3. Problem solving - police works together with community members and other agencies to address the underline problems that contribute to crime and disorder by identifying and analyzing problems, developing suitable   responses and assessing the effectiveness of these responses.

1. Public involvement and community partnership - citizens are viewed  by the police as partners who shares the responsibility for identifying priorities and developing and implementing responses.

2. Government and other agencies partnership - in community policing other government agencies are called upon and recognized for their abilities to respond and address crime and social disorder issues. Non government organizations are also used for community policing.