Journalism of Courage
As we wait for comprehensive police reforms,community policing can help secure peace at ground level
In the course of his speech at the conference of the directors general of police last month,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had spoken of the importance of community policing for preventing petty differences from flaring into communal conflagrations. Last Friday,the ministry of home affairs took a concrete step in that direction by advising the Uttar Pradesh police to institute community liaison groups at the neighbourhood level in Muzaffarnagar and to develop dispute resolution mechanisms to address evolving problems before they can threaten the social fabric. The ministry estimates that 70 per cent of communal incidents have their origins in petty issues and are preventable. Its enthusiasm may be a little misplaced but the fact is that the police do not have a sterling reputation as honest brokers,and liaison groups can make a huge difference in situations where the police are not altogether trusted.
Several states have experimented with community policing,among the first being Odisha,which reached out to the public in 1999. The need for police reforms has been felt for long but political interests have always come in the way. Until comprehensive reforms emerge,stratagems like the home ministrys initiative for improving policing on the ground can deliver better security to the individual citizen,to the community and to the nation.
