TDS Desk

Through community policing, the police worked to build good relationships with the public and control crime in each police station area through organizational activities.

Originally intended as a public-oriented, preventive and problem-solving policing initiative, community policing faced criticism during the previous government’s tenure for various reasons.

After a change in government, efforts have been initiated to revamp this program.

The Police Headquarters has directed each station to replace the name community policing with a citizens’ forum and form new committees accordingly.

According to sources familiar with the matter, this aims to serve as a bridge between law enforcement and local residents to raise awareness and reduce crime.

Officials say that as part of community policing, people engage in creating awareness against crimes, preventing early marriage, addressing harassment, combating terrorism and extremism, discouraging drug abuse, and curbing violence against women and children while promoting social values.

The program also works to build trust, foster participation and strengthen partnerships between the police and the public.

The community policing initiative began on a small scale in 2013 under the supervision of the deputy inspector general (DIG) of operations. The next year, it expanded under the public safety and prevention branch, overseen by an assistant inspector general. Later, it was rebranded as beat policing.

According to sources at the Police Headquarters, the primary aim of community policing was to foster a strong relationship between the public and law enforcement and to curb crime. However, during the previous government, many community policing committee members were affiliated with the then-ruling Awami League, which limited the program’s role to suppressing opposition parties.

Following the ouster of Hasina’s regime, all community policing committees were disbanded.

After August 5, the Police Headquarters instructed all stations to form new citizen committees, replacing community policing.

However, following the emergence of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, the Police Headquarters directed the formation of committees under the name of citizens’ forums instead of police station-based citizen committees.

Police station sources say that earlier attempts to involve credible community members often saw offenders infiltrating these committees. They note that currently, efforts are underway to select members with clean reputations through a thorough vetting process.

These committees now include political figures, mosque and madrasa leaders, teachers, students, local businessmen, journalists, and lawyers.

Community Policing Day was not observed this year due to the change in government.

As of 2023, there were 49,529 community policing committees with 894,206 members nationwide.

Police are now working to restructure these into citizens’ forums.

In Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) jurisdictions, many police stations have already established citizens’ forum committees. Some stations have even held meetings with their forums.

For instance, Tejgaon Industrial Area police station’s forum comprises 30 members, including politicians, businesspersons, mosque imams, university faculty and students.

“Through our citizens’ forum, we are building relationships between local citizens and police. Members are helping collect information and conduct awareness activities to control crime,” said Officer-in-Charge (OC) Gazi Shamimur Rahman.

In Kamrangirchar police station’s jurisdiction, which includes wards 55, 56 and 57 of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), four citizens’ forum committees have been formed.

Each ward has a 12-member committee, while the forum at the station level has 32 members.

OC Md Amirul Islam said since the station covered a large area, four ward committees had been formed.

Several meetings with senior DMP officers had already been held to address local issues and gather crime-related information, he added.

DMP Joint Commissioner (Crime) Md Faruq Hossain said community policing had aimed to establish a connection between the police and the public while keeping crime in check.

“However, following the change in government, there was some distancing between the police and the public, prompting the rebranding to citizens’ forums.

“These forums introduce some changes and innovations, involving people from all walks of life. Additionally, supervisory committees will monitor the forums’ activities to prevent members from engaging in crimes and also oversee the work of station police through these forums,” he added.

Meanwhile, Police Headquarters AIG (Meida) Enamul Haque Sagar said mutual cooperation between the police and the public was crucial for maintaining law and order and preventing crime.

“To achieve this, the process of forming citizens’ forums at the grassroots level is ongoing.”

SIGNIFICANCE

Involving individuals from various professions in crime prevention and law enforcement is crucial. Crime patterns vary across regions, and with a smaller police force relative to the population, crime control becomes challenging. By involving the community, citizens’ forums can make it easier to identify criminals and manage crimes effectively.

DMP Joint Commissioner Faruq said changes had been made to the police force across the country following the fall of the previous government, which had left some police members unfamiliar with their areas and local offenders.

In such circumstances, citizens’ forums could make police operations easier, he told this correspondent.

Sources say that only 5–10% of people visit police stations for legal assistance, leaving the majority (90–95%) without any contact with the police.

According to them, before community policing or beat policing, people often felt uncomfortable approaching police stations. The citizens’ forum initiative is building a bridge between law enforcement and the public, encouraging people to assist the police in their work and making interactions smoother and more productive.