In news- Recently, the Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana inaugurated a community policing programme ‘Ummeed’
About Ummeed programme-
- Ummeed is a step together, towards a better tomorrow’, centred on the theme of communal harmony.
- The initiative will promote unity and mutual trust between communities so that everyone can live peacefully.
- The programme was organised by the northeast district police at Shyam Lal College.
- During the programme, the commissioner said that since it is not feasible to deploy policemen in every nook and corner, a self-disciplined and service-oriented society is required to assist the police to establish peace and harmony.
- ‘Ummeed’ is an initiative to strengthen the common chord of togetherness and mutual trust between communities in order to live peacefully in the spirit of coexistence.
What is community Policing?
- Community Policing is generally defined as a law enforcement philosophy that allows officers to continuously operate in the same area in order to create a stronger bond with the citizens living and working in that area.
- This allows public safety officers to engage with local residents and prevent crime from happening instead of responding to incidents after they occur.
- It is based on the principle of ‘A Policeman is a Citizen with Uniform and a Citizen is a Policeman without Uniform’.
Similar initiatives in other states-
West Bengal had a programme called the Village Resistance Group to deal with dacoits in rural areas. In Gujarat and Maharashtra, a community policing programme called Gram Rakshak Dal was established. Similarly, in Karnataka enactment of the Karnataka Village Defense Parties Act of 1964, which became operational in 1975 aimed to establish community policing.
Some other prominent community policing initiatives started at various parts of the country are:
- Friends of Police Movement (FOP), Ramnad district, Tamil Nadu.
- Parivar Paramarsh Kendra, Raigarh district, Madhya Pradesh.
- Community Liaison Groups, Uttarakhand.
- Joint Patrolling Committees: Rajasthan.
- Janamaithri Suraksha Padhathi, Kerala.
- Meira Paibi: Manipur.
- Trichy community policing, Trichy district, Tamil Nadu.
- Meira Paibi: Manipur.
- Mohalla Committee Movement trust: It was established in Mumbai in the wake of Hindu-Muslim riots of 1992 and 1993.
- Gram/Nagar Raksha Samiti, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.
Source: The Hindu
