Chhattisgarh Project

CHRI aims to foster better community relationships between the police and the public, to bring about a certain level of accountability in policing actions. As part of initiating the discourse on police reforms, CHRI is facilitating a community policing initiative in the state so that it can be show cased not only in the country but also elsewhere.

The basic motto is 'policing for and with communities" rather than "of communities". By actively involving the community in policing matters, police agencies have a better chance of developing successful strategies and problem solving techniques to effectively combat crime. Community policing is both an organisational philosophy as well as an operating strategy both to control crime and bridge the growing psychological divide between the community on the one hand and police on the other.

The aim of advocacy here will center on the need to institutionalise people's participation in policing. The ultimate purpose of the project is to showcase community policing so as to promote a greater level of accountability for police action as a best practice. This will enable the State Human Rights Commission to issue a directive to the government to adopt it in all districts in Chhattisgarh.

The methodology for pro active policing is through a process of consultation with the community, adaptation of the strategy, mobilisation of people through partnerships and finally bringing in accountability of the police to the people. (See note on Community Policing: towards a healthy and secure society).

One of the advocacy efforts of CHRI is to institutionalise people's participation in policing and showcase that through community policing the community can build and promote a greater level of accountability for police actions. To support the move towards democratic (community) policing CHRI has taken the support of the Hidyatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur and Kalyan College at Durg.

A. Maana Police station - CHRI's study area:

Maana police station is a rural police station (Maana PS), covering 12 villages. CHRI wanted to start this initiative in a small place to understand what may work and what will be difficult. All the efforts have been undertaken in consultation with the people with CHRI being the facilitator. Also it gave the added benefit to CHRI to initiate the activities with minimum staff and resources. This police station was identified with the help of the local police, the State Human Rights Commission and with the support of the proactive participants of the March 2003 community-policing workshop.

The project aims to:

• Break down barriers between the community and the police through dialogue and understanding of each other's needs
• Develop better police community interaction
• Develop a people oriented approach to policing in the area
• Encourage the community to participate in policing activities
• Find mutually acceptable solutions to tackle endemic problems in the area through community outreach initiatives.

Methodology:

Initial Proposal: Hindi Proposal / English Proposal

1) Formation Of Community Liason Groups -
The Chhattisgarh Police Department, CHRI and State Human Rights Commission in consultation with the community facilitated the formation of Community Liaison Groups (CLG's). The CLG's consist of representatives from various socio-economic strata of the community within a police station area, who develop a working relationship with the police to improve better interaction and information sharing between the public and police. This would lead to harmony in the community through constant cooperation, communication and interaction. The CLG's regularly meet the police to discuss improvements, complaints and any other issue related to law and order in their community.

A Community Liaison Group is formed in each village. Members of the village join in the regular discussions and those who show an interest to continue to support the meetings start representing the community. Sometimes members are also invited to participate such as retired schoolteachers, retired government persons etc. Also consciously women and vulnerable groups in the villages have been identified and invited to be a part of the meetings. Initially the idea was that the politically active people would not be a part of the meetings. This was passed as an agreement at a large public meeting on July 4, 2004. Also the panchayat members had not been invited initially, yet after a few months of the interactions the panchayat members showed ample interest. At some of the meetings the CLG members in attendance also felt that the panchayat members could be observers. Yet in a few months time the panchs and the sarpanchs became active at the meetings and several of the civic related problems that were raised were taken over by the panchayat for redressal.

The constitution of the community liaison groups was based on the model developed by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) through a countrywide consultation. Yet since July 2004 the model has gone though several changes and the Maana police station has now developed their own style of community policing. (Click here for details on the composition of the CLG and the beat officers.) In all cases the CLG are representative of the community and not of any core or closed group; they have a well-defined mandate and objectives. In the Maana Police Station area the members of CLG and respective beat officers are presently meeting 9 times in a month. This is inclusive of 1 meeting per month with the SHO. However sometimes the community which is primary rural is too engaged in their personal matters like farming and festivals (October - November, harvesting season and festivals) due to which the target of 9 meetings is often not possible. Similarly in the monsoons due to heavy rains it is difficult for the people to commute due to lack of proper roads. In such circumstances in consultation with the community the frequency of meting is reduced. Presently out of the 9 meetings CHRI also organises at least two legal literacy classes in the area.

2) Beat Patrol Officers -
A number of police personnel are trained as "beat officers" each with a designated community. Beat officers are constables, head constables, ASI or SI with at least some experience in working with the community. The BPR&D model suggested that the personnel should come in with at least 3 years of service. However, often this may not be possible and so flexibility may be required. However, of the personnel are trained in their training institutes, then even a freshly graduated constable maybe able to take on the necessary tasks at the police station with their experienced colleagues.

Each village or colony will have a designated Beat Patrol Officer. The Beat Patrol Officers would be required to acquaint themselves with the community under their Beat and also liase with the CLG and keep the SHO abreast of all incidents in the community. Beat patrols enable police officers to get to know their community better and to become a familiar and involved presence for the public The officers are supposed to visit their Beat at least once a week and it is their responsibility to acquaint themselves with the community and build a rapport with them. The officers at all times must attempt to maintain a direct contact and visibility within the community.

3) Sensitising Personnel at the Maana Police Station -
All the police personnel were introduced to the principles and processes of community policing and also a programme was organised to help them in identifying the community as a resource. The facilitator of the project and other staff members from time to time have organised small meetings at the police station. Details of a recently organised focussed group discussion give an insiders review of the project. (Report of FGD).

A process documentation of the community-policing project is underway with complete details and a short evaluation of the progress of the project.

4) Legal Literacy Programme

An important part of the police community interactions are to the legal literacy meetings, which are organised two times in the area. CHRI firmly believes that through these legal literacy meetings the CLG's, the police and the panchayat will be empowered and gradually the stakeholders can facilitate the meetings. Also this will help in making the efforts more sustainable. As a part of the interactions the CLG members have initiated a Quarterly Maana Newsletter since December 05 called "Sahyog Maana". CHRI has facilitated this effort, which helps people in discussing not only their problems but also helps in realising their aspirations. Presently, this newsletter is being up scaled to a broadsheet "Lok Police" which will not only have the writings of the people of Maana but also the broadsheet will be sent to other states such as Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand and distributed to interested groups in Chhattisgarh.

Organisations working on local governance issues are also inviting the CHRI staff to conduct legal literacy classes. PRAKRITI an NGO based at Nagpur has been inviting CHRI to conduct legal literacy for the gram shikshiks and for their own staff on understanding the criminal justice system. Also CHRI has been providing support to several local organisations in Chhattisgarh regarding legal issues on policing.

5) Evaluation

A survey of people's perception of the police was carried out in all the villages and colonies under the police station covering people from all segments of the community at the beginning of the work. The fieldwork of another follow-up survey has been completed in 2005. The documentation and analysis of the research under Mr. M.D. Asthana (retd. IAS) is in process. The survey primarily aims at documenting changes in different processes of community policing. It involves both stakeholders i.e. police and community.