Joining the ranks

Every modern nation has a primary role to safeguard the life and liberty of its citizens. To ensure this objective, the institution of law enforcement agencies, where police play a major role, has been created. However, depending on the complexity of the society, which includes population, composition of the population, development status, adoption of technology, performance of public and private institutions, etc., there have been different patterns of partnership between citizens and police in the realm of internal security in various countries around the world. This partnership has different contours ranging from community policing to the private security industry. On one hand, we find a very active role of community policing in the USA, Singapore, Japan, and many other countries, whereas this role is minimal in countries like Russia, Australia, and Germany. Obviously, the population of a country and resources available to the government for police administration are major factors.

In the United Kingdom, Sir Robert Peel, a two-time Prime Minister known as the father of community policing, introduced the concept of community policing in the 19th century. Further, John Angel, a famous artist in England, coined the term “democratic policing” to describe community policing. The USA started community policing in the 1960s, which included neighbourhood watch programs with meeting halls attached to every police station for regular consultation with the neighbourhood community. Police patrols also conducted walks or cycle patrols to better mingle with the community and enlist their support.

In India also, there has been a long history of people’s participation in all spheres of public life, including policing. India, known as the mother of democracy, had community policing during the Ashokan period in ancient times. During the medieval period, village chiefs known as Mukkadans or Sarpanchs acted as police officers. Unfortunately, during the British period, community policing was lost as Lord Cornwallis introduced the Zamindari and Daroga (in charge of a police station) system as part of centralised control by the British exploitative regime. After Independence, the general perception among common people has been that mere police administration, as an arm of the State, is not sufficient where control on crime, law & order, and administration of justice remains largely unsatisfactory.

Even today, the police population ratio is 152 as against the desired norm of 222 (UN norms) per one lakh population. As a consequence, some initiatives have been taken in different parts of the country, such as:

1. Kerala Janmaithri Suraksha project 2008;

2. Village Resistance Group to deal with Dacoits in West Bengal;

3. Gram Raksha Dal in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and the recent Citizen Setu project by the Gujarat police;

4. Karnataka Village Defence Parties Act 1964;

5. Friends of Police (FOP) movement, Ramanath district, Tamil Nadu;

6. Community Liaison groups, Uttarakhand;

7. Gram/Nagar Raksha Samiti, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh;

8. Parivar Paramarsh Kendra Raigarh, Madhya Pradesh;

9. Police Mitra, Delhi Police.

With the passage of time, there has been participation of private security agencies in the realm of internal security in various countries, and it has taken a very big shape today. In the USA and many other advanced countries, they outnumber the public police; some countries like Japan and the UK have given them some police powers as well. In India, the private security industry is significant and poised to play a very important role alongside the police in the domain of internal security. Now, they are visible to the common man in places like residential colonies, bank ATMs, schools and colleges, hospitals, hotels, ports, airports, industrial establishments, malls, private businesses, and as private security officers (PSOs) in corporates, etc.

Now, there is a new dawn on the horizon of the private security landscape. The 10 million strong workforce within the private security industry is waiting in the wings to work as agents of the National Citizens Security Culture, a noble project being unfolded by CAPSI (Central Association of Private Security Industry) in the near future. The project, monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), would be the largest ever community policing initiative with sustainability in mind.

The National Citizens Security Culture project would mean that: (a) It is a nationwide initiative which would be implemented through the actions of multiple stakeholders simultaneously, monitored from the national capital Delhi in association with the state chapters of CAPSI. (b) Citizens from all walks of life would take ownership and responsibility. (c) It would support national security, covering all dimensions of societal and national security. (d) It will become part of people’s lives, leading to changes in attitudes and behavior on a sustainable basis, thus becoming a cultural norm.

The project envisages the involvement of various stakeholders, including educational institutions, hospitals, hotel owners, mall owners, RWAs, village panchayats, civil administration (particularly police), and support from central ministries such as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Ministry of Urban Development & Housing (MOUD), Ministry of Rural Development (MRDD), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B), etc., to ensure the successful launch of this project, which is essentially an altruistic measure by the private security industry association. In fact, this initiative should qualify for CSR (corporate social responsibility) contributions from the corporate world.

The RRU (Rashtriya Raksha University), under the aegis of MHA, will play a pivotal role in preparing the training material (audio-visual, text, etc.) in association with CAPSI. There will be training sessions (both offline and online) for the security guards. Similarly, Nehru Yuva Kendras spread all over the country, Bharat Scouts and Guides, NCC, as well as other stakeholders like industrial and business establishments, will be part of this drive. The use of the most effective means of technology for the quickest dissemination of the ideas and modalities of this project in a cost-effective manner will be a very important factor.

The beginning in this direction has taken place with a Round Table Conference on 15th March 2024 at the Constitution Club, New Delhi, where brainstorming sessions were held with participation from top experienced personnel from the defense forces, police forces, administrators, academicians, RRU, think tanks, etc., with wide media coverage. More interactions like this are planned for different parts of the country in the future.

This project aims at bringing about better efficiency in the state apparatus (particularly the police) for the internal security of the country. It is expected that the timely detection and reporting of crime or any untoward development in public life will lead to effective handling of law and order situations, crime prevention and investigation, disaster mitigation, and better community bonding, resulting in an overall safe and conducive ecosystem for various development initiatives to flourish. This would also result in better image-building for the police and work towards reducing the caseload in courts by preventing the institution of cases due to strong social bonding inherent in this project. The spin-off effects could include awareness generation regarding hygiene aspects in society, environmental preservation, and many more future initiatives that may be onboarded using the same methodology. A secure Bharat would be the foundation of a developed Bharat.

The writer is a retired IAS officer, formerly Addl Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Sikkim; distinguished fellow, Delhi School of Public Policy & Governance; and Advisor, Central Association of Private Security Industry. Views expressed are personal