Village councils’ role key to community policing

Our Correspondent Kohima, Oct. 19 (EMN): Community policing or beat policing is a strategy intended to build ties and work closely with community members to create a safe environment for the citizens, reduce crime and maintain law and order. Vishal, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) zone-II Dimapur explained, “Beat policing is a concept where a particular beat officer is designated for a particular area to go around, mingle and establish a connection with the community, identify people who can be potential friends of police and provide them with the services that are provided by any police station.” The functions of the beat officer include responding to citizens' calls for service, identifying and resolving community problems, attending community meetings, liaising with relevant government agencies to address community needs, and, on some occasions, investigating minor criminal incidents, he explained. During the regional conference on good governance held in Kohima recently, Vishal in his presentation on ‘Community Policing-Beat Policing’ pointed out two important contextual factors in the state of Nagaland. Firstly, he said “Naga villages had the aspirations for, and the self image of an all encompassing political community for long and it continues to date, though with diminished intensity. He said none of the ‘insurgent governments’, even at the peak of their powers, were capable of diminishing the command and confidence the villages had on the village’s internal matters in any significant way. Secondly, he stated, ‘two decades’ of peace have enabled transition of Nagaland police from anti-insurgency force to district executive force with focus on law & order management, criminal investigation etc. He told Eastern Mirror that the village authority and the police team could build a strong support system for each other given the fact that society in Nagaland are built around the village authority. Though ‘insurgency-related problems’ has significantly reduced, Vishal pointed out the existence of insurgency-related crime activities like extortion, kidnapping, syndicate system of doing business giving rise to price inflation etc. When enquired about the community policing launched in 2016 in Dimapur, heaffirmed that it has been doing fairly well despite inadequacies in mobility and manpower. Through community policing, he said, it is building bridges between the police and the community. Challenges Citing some challenges in implementation of community policing, he said, most of the personnel are converted from armed branch to law and order duties with little formal training. At the same time, he said, the lack of adequate infrastructure is pulling down the progress of district executive force. “Beat policing is not a dedicated job at the moment—it is a shared responsibility,” said Vishal. Measures to strengthen beat policing The DCP was of the view that building a dedicated workforce would strengthen and ensure effective functioning of beat policing and making it a ‘dedicated job’ by providing all required necessities and services. He also propagated of inclusion of women in beat policing stating that there is not a single woman at present because of the social divide. With the inclusion of women in policing, Vishal was confident that it could tap the services and resources of the women who comprise half of the society. Vishal also asserted on the need of adequate mobility services, stating that beat policemen should be the first one to reach the spot by virtue of being familiar to the area to get better support from the community. Beat policing and good governance On being further enquired on how beat policing would contribute towards good governance, he said that besides providing a safe neighbourhood, beat policing would bring service to the citizens and ensure ‘things will get done.’