Community Policing
Janamaithri Suraksha Project
ASSESSMENT
Articles
Meeting At KEPA

    Assessment Meeting of Janamaithri Suraksha Programme .


Venue: Conference Hall, KEPA, Thrissur.
Date:    23.09.2008

Six months after the commencement of the Janamaithri Suraksha project, a meeting of all concerned Police officials was convened on 23.09.08, at the Kerala Police Academy (KEPA), Thrissur, to assess the progress of programme implementation. The meeting, which was presided over by the Hon. Home Minister of Kerala, Sri Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, was attended by almost all senior Police officials concerned with programme implementation, including Sri Raman Srivastava, DGP, Sri V R Rajiven, ADGP, Sri S Pulikesi, ADGP, Sri K S Jangpangi, ADGP, Dr Alexander Jacob, IGP, Dr B Sandhya, IGP, Sri Arunkumar Sinha, IGP, Sri Vinson Paul, IGP, District SPs, and other police officers.

Addressing the meeting, the Home Minister mentioned that at the conclusion of six months after launch, the Janamaithri Suraksha project had been found to be very well received by the people of the localities where the programme was in operation. Generally, the people of those localities had expressed appreciation of the local police officers and other members of the police involved in programme rollout. In almost every place, the citizens were willing to come forward and associate with the police in some of their activities, with a view to improving public safety and ensuring the security of the community. However, the Minister said, while all such efforts to bridge the gap between the citizens and the police personnel were commendable, it had to be remembered that the policing duties and responsibilities of the police organization were of paramount importance, and not to be relegated to a secondary position. He stressed that community policing was meant to ensure more efficient and effective policing, and not to be confused with community service.

Each police officer responsible for programme implementation was then invited to share their experiences and make relevant suggestions to increase the effectiveness of the project. The following points were among those raised at the meeting:

  • In most places, police have conducted awareness classes in traffic, drug prevention, etc.
  • In some places, free medical camps as also blood donation camps have been conducted.
  • In certain areas, special kits for Onam were distributed by police personnel.
  • In most localities, a conscious effort was being made by beat police personnel to visit with aged persons living alone in households, to give them reassurance.
  • Assistance to tourists was emphasized in some areas.
  • It was repeatedly mentioned that in police stations where programme is being implemented, there has been a drastic decrease in the number of crimes being reported.
  • There were reports from various places that instances of illegal sand mining, illicit liquor production, etc. have been effectively curtailed with the support of local citizens.
  • Overall, an evaluation of the first six months of the programme indicates that the achievements have been quite significant.
The following were some of the suggestions put forward by attendees at the meeting:

  • Police should work closely with educational institutions, especially colleges, where special Jagratha Samitis could prove to be effective
  • It is important to give publicity to the programme.
  • Police should try and involve local media in such programmes to spread the message of community policing.
  • Also, public notice boards may be useful in spreading awareness.
  • NSS student, ex-policemen, ex-servicemen etc. may be co-opted to make the programme more effective.
  • Police should work in close coordination with disaster management groups such as Fire Force, etc.
At the end of the presentations from each District, the Home Minister summed up the points raised at the meeting by making the following observations:

  • Based on the response from the programme areas, it is intended that by the end of the first year, at least 14 more police stations will be covered by the programme. In this connection, all District SPs will be asked to submit reports to the DGP at the earliest.
  • It is evident that more resources in terms of personnel, communications equipment, vehicles, etc. need to be found to make the programme more effective. Hence, steps will be taken to increase the strength of the present police force by filling the vacancies that exist. Also, the necessary equipment will be acquired at the earliest, and steps for this will be instituted immediately.