Modern society has posed many insurmountable challenges to the police service. The nature of crime has changed in no time. The cases related to financial, cyber and organised crimes are rife. Bearing in mind the complexities of crimes, society demands efficient and effective policing. The concept of community policing has come to the fore. It is a brilliant strategy to cope with today’s crimes. Community policing is aimed at ensuring public safety. Another dimension of community policing is that it demands collaboration between police and the public. This evolving concept of policing would repair the damaged image of the police. It would further make positive police-public relations. There are several requirements to make community policing work such as setting standards of professional practice, accrediting training providers and setting learning-cum-development outcomes. To ensure public-centric policing, the government has taken a number of steps. The case of front desks is in point, in which complaint management system and police station record management system are incorporated. Police Khidmat Markaz has been set up to ensure fair dealing with the public. Furthermore, a special police reporting desk for supporting transgender is also established. Women police units have also been installed.
Lahore is one of the biggest metropolitan cities in Pakistan. Not only is Lahore a challenging city to police but it is also in need of a high-spirited commander. Recently, the Government of Punjab appointed Ghulam Mehmood Dogar as the capital city police officer which is a commendable step. Similarly, he has vast experience in policing. His endeavours in community policing are praise-worthy. He established a helpline 1242 in the capital city police headquarters to rescue women from any precarious situation and registered their complaints against sexual harassment. Furthermore, Anti-women harassment and violence cell has been established which is responded to by lady officers. There are also custom support officers who put their best to help the victims of sexual harassment. He also introduced Ababeel Squad to control crimes and improve the law and order situation in congested areas of the city. The Ababeel is a remarkable initiative for maintaining citizen-centric policing. The Ababeel squad is entrusted with the responsibility of arresting drug dealers and proclaimed offenders.
Not only is Lahore a challenging city to police but it is also in need of a high-spirited commander.
It should also enhance its capacity to take action against the act of illegal possession of weapons. The appointment of Community Guides, with the rank of Sub-Inspectors and Assistant Sub-Inspectors at police stations, was the very first step towards a revolution in ‘Thana culture. He stressed the need for enhancing police efficiency to ensure effective coordination among community guides. During his tenure as CCPO, Lahore police launched its first ever official website. CCPO, Dogar notified media persons that the user-friendly and one-pager layout-based website of Lahore police is backed by a robust anti-hacking Drupal CMS mechanism. Mr Dogar’s innovative and creative steps prove his competency. Our policing and society are in dire need of such effective steps to improve the society-police relationship.
To attain effective community policing, an efficient system of training is needed which would shrink the trust deficit between the public and police. Another key recommendation is the training of officers with tools and techniques to improve daily interactions with all community members. It should be the part of training to inculcate kindness, compassion and benevolence. There is a need for gender sensitization courses in the training of police officers at all levels. Digitalization of the police department is the need of the hour. Government should allocate more budget for increasing the efficiency of the department. The media might play a vibrant role to educate the people about the cooperation of citizens with the police.
In the end, it would not be wrong to say that 21st-century policing would be more community-based. There is a perception in our country that police service seeks sacrifices but it provides a handful of opportunities to grow. This perception needs to be changed through a pragmatic approach.
The writer is a lawyer.