INTRODUCING PROBLEM ORIENTED COMMUNITY POLICING TO PAKISTAN IN THE CONTEXT OF DEVOLUTION

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INTRODUCING PROBLEMORIENTED COMMUNITY POLICING
TO PAKISTAN IN THE CONTEXT OF DEVOLUTION

• Dr. Hilton Root
• Islamabad, April 28 29, 2007

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Background for Reform

• Traditional model of policing has created tension
  between the police and the community resulting in
  mutual suspicion . Mistrust of each others
  intentions must be overcome in order to build a
  partnership between police and community.
• Local Government Plan 2000 and Police Ordinance
  2002 address these concerns by providing the
  legal framework for reform.

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Creating an IntegratedLaw Enforcement Service

• Critical to Pakistans emergence as a strong and
  integrated part of the global economy, capable of
  managing its citizens needs, it will need strong
  systems of citizen accountability and a police
  force that collaborates with the population to
  create a more secure environment.

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Devolution

• Devolution of powers allows for the opportunity
  to create this integration
• Decentralization must find ways to break down
  barriers heal old wounds, promote a participatory
  ethos

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Community Policing

• Enhance citizen monitoring of law enforcement
• Enable better police performance by giving them
  the benefit of having greater community
  involvement.
• Provide a basis for monitoring and evaluation
  that will enable Citizen Community Boards (CCBs)
  to contribute their localized knowledge to
  enhance the performance of public authorities.

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Responsible Political Administration Grounded In
Citizen Access

• Address the over-concentration of authority
• Diffuse the responsibilities of the deputy
  commissioner
• Separate operational and routine activities from
  policy formation and ensure strong community
  oversight over both
• Create transparent information systems at all
  levels in the management of public safety through
  information technology and automation within all
  levels of government jurisdictions
• Institute standardized information on crime
  reporting, on financial accountability, and
  quality and level of service delivery

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Long-Term GoalsCommunity and Problem-OrientedPo
licing Strategies

• Executed by changing the nature of police work
  through the adoption of community and
  problem-oriented policing strategies.
• Implementing a proactive approach- instead of
  just responding, actually preventing a crisis

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Goals for the Police

• Motivate the police to participate and identify
  with new goals.
• 2. Reorganizing police operations to broaden the
  police domain beyond search, seizure and arrest
  to include planning, communicating, and
  anticipating.
• Ensure feedback
• 4. Solve conflicts lawfully, with community
  interests in mind.

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Changing Attitudes

• The biggest challenge is gaining the acceptance
  of the police of this new understanding of their
  law enforcement duties
• Instead of being a threat, the community becomes
  the most valuable resource and partner of the
  police

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• What can police forces do
• to make community policing
• an operational reality?

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Operational Definition of Community Policing

• Measure institute measures that improve the
  quality of life of citizens, specifically safety
• Identify tensions between the police and the
  community, reduce hostility and improve
  communication. Administering justice is total
  community responsibility
• Facilitate teamwork between police the public and
  public service agencies

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Operational Definition of Community Policing

• Assess in collaboration with the police and the
  CCBs, assess policies needed for police reform
• Adjusting resources to the needs of the
  community determined through consultation
• Mobilization linking resources to recognize
  public safety issues
• 7. Problem Solving remedying conditions that
  cause crime and insecurity

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Re-socializing the Officers

• Effective Communication
• Building consensus
• Action planning
• Conflict management
• Interpersonal situations

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Crime Prevention

• Shift current focus of policing from arrest,
  search and seizure to preventing and protecting
  individual citizens from crime
• Identify the cause and effect from delinquency to
  crime
• Engage the community in self-protection
• Creating a community infrastructure to work with
  external agencies such as the police departments

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Changing Strategy and Structure

• Reform the governance structure so that the
  oversight boards do not serve at the whim of
  political machines
• - Create specialized independent oversight of
  police
• - Protect the independence of CCBs and DTCE
• Require legality and fairness in all police
  activities

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Recruitment

• Staff the police with appropriate peoplethrough
  meritocratic promotion processes, ensure staff
  has confidence of local community
• Develop capacities of police executives to manage
  reform
• Ensure that promotions are not made on the basis
  of political connections
• Ensure that the head of a police organization is
  selected on the basis of competence and police
  experience, and not easily or arbitrarily removed
  from office

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Police Culture

• Addressing competing internal values
• Tactical culture of police operations
• Ensure harmony with community cultural
  sensitivities by recruiting from the same
  district
• Encourage police-community interaction
• Create grievance mechanisms
• Monitor individual compliance with organizational
  objectives
• Link calls for service to performance measurement

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Measuring Police Performance

• Ensure that measurement allows the police to
  know if the source of the problem has been
  resolved or diminished
• Traditional measures may not reflect improved
  performance
• Has the level of harm been reduced?
• Does the harm take longer to reoccur?

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Where to begin

• Introduce merit criteria at entry-level, testing
  recruits for their suitability to implement
  community-based practices
• Introduce community-based promotional testing and
  Diagnostic Assessment Centers Training for police
  official on community-based approaches.
• Work with community leaders to identify
  opportunities to infuse the police with a
  community-based orientation.

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Conclusion

• Decentralization offers government the
  opportunity to change the role, mission, goals,
  policies, philosophy and procedures of police
  organization