A research study has found that while community policing did not lead to the hoped-for reductions in crime, the initiative in Punjab led to improvement in citizens’ overall perceptions of the department.
“Community policing has potential in our context, however making it successful requires embedding it in systemic reforms that address these long-standing barriers in policing,” said Dr Ali Hasanain of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The study finds that limited resources, chronic understaffing, frequent transfers and legal norms inherited from colonial-era laws stand out as important barriers.
Researchers from the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), LUMS and Princeton University are part of a large international study on community policing in the Global South, including Pakistan. The results of the study have been published in Science, one of the world’s top academic journals. The Pakistan study was conducted by Dr Ali Cheema (LUMS, IDEAS), Ahsan Farooqui (IDEAS), Zulfiqar Hameed (Police Services of Pakistan), Dr Ali Hasanain (LUMS) and Prof Jacob Shapiro (Princeton University).
The study uses randomised-control-trials of community policing initiatives implemented by the police in six countries, including the districts of Sheikhupura and Nankana in Pakistan.
Read Police arrest two impersonators
The police introduced community meetings in neighbourhoods to solicit information on safety concerns. They also implemented problem-oriented policing, a structured way for the police to identify and address problems.
In Punjab, the police experimented with two models, the first that used open community meetings and the second in which additional women-only meetings were conducted by women police officers. The study was conducted during 2016-21 in collaboration with several social scientists at leading universities.
Overall, the study finds that community policing did not lead to the hoped-for reductions in crime. However, in Punjab, community policing led to big improvements in citizens’ beliefs about police intentions and improvements in their overall perceptions of the police. It also saw a positive response from citizens, with both men and women actively voicing issues in community meetings that tend to be under-reported to the police.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2021.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ