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Community policing takes a proactive action and addresses the root causes of crimes and disorders
Bangladesh needs community policing
Razzak Raza
Since the inception of London Metropolitan Police in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel, the history of policing experienced several new approaches. But, perhaps, the most important development and the most creative approach is the community policing. Though the concept of community policing began taking root in the 1970s, it drew global attention in 1990s when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), established the office of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) in 1994 to render federal assistance for community policing approaches to the states and regional police departments.
Community policing programmes take many different forms. Some emphasises disorder and quality-of-life issues, while other focus on serious crime. Some primarily address drug-related crime. So, it is fairly difficult to define community policing in a single sentence. The COPS defines community policing as "a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organisational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem solving tactics and police-community partnership.
In a community policing approach the police need to work closely with the people as one of the partners of the community. This philosophy opposes the "inward-looking bureaucracy" that is traditionally common across the globe. The basic idea behind the community policing is that it tries to establish a rapport of trust and a sort of reliance between the police and the public.
It is true that Sir Robert Peel founded the base-stone of modern policing. His famous nine points are the basic guidelines for every police department. His 7th point states, "police, at all time, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives the reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence."
Though community partnership is an essential characteristic of Robert Peel's nine points, he did not clarify that developing the quality of citizen's lives would be his central theme. His standard of evaluating police performance was "absence of crime and disorder". The 1st point, so, describes, "The basic mission for which the police exist is prevent crime and disorder".
Tom Porter the pioneer
In 1972 the Portland Police Department, under the leadership of Tom Porter started the journey of community policing. This idea was adopted by the other police departments of the United States of America. And in 1990s this got the USA federal guardianship. In 1994, in the USA, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was passed both in the House and in the senate, authorising 8.8 billion dollars expenditure over six years.
The office of COPS was created to distribute and monitor the funds. The COPS project has extended beyond its stipulated time. It disbursed fund to the states and regional police departments who adapted the philosophy of community policing. Under the COPS project thousands of new police officers were recruited, training centers were setup to impart necessary training to the existing and the newly recruit ed police officers who would work as community police officers. The then president Bill Clinton during his campaign for the second term election, promised his voters to allocate additional funds for COPS and a new recruitment of 100,000 new police officers for community policing activities.
The philosophy and practice of community policing of the USA has spread worldwide. The semi-military top-down and inward looking police bureaucracy started to decentralise the decision making authority to root level officers.
The Bangladesh police have been experimenting with the philosophy of community policing for ages but no effective strategies have yet been followed. The Police Reform Programme (PRP) has been working for massive reform in the police system of Bangladesh. However, its focus is in the structural and attitudinal change of the country's colonial police setup. The idea of community policing might be addressed later on. But some of the police bosses are very much enthusiastic on community policing activities.
Earlier, in Bangladesh, community policing was viewed as an act of organizing community members of the crime-infested locality to perform night patrol along with police. Owner groups of the huts, bazaars and business institutions are encouraged to form patrol committee to perform night patrol on shifts. Some dacoity prone rural areas also came under the night patrol community policing.
This style of community policing is practised under the patronage and directives of the officers-in-charge (OC) of the local police stations. The performance of an OC of a police station is evaluated mainly upon his effective control over crime against property. A dacoity is considered more grievous an offence than the murder of few people due to personal or gang enmity. So, the OC of a police station tries to deter dacoity. To make his jurisdiction free of dacoity, he would force the community members of the dacoity-infested area on the street for patrol. But the other forms of crimes remain un-addressed. Patrolling in the night cannot remove the causes of crimes.
In the traditional strategy of crime control, police never address the roots of criminal activities. And, at the same time it is also true that the police have no mechanism and authority to eliminate the causes of crimes. As community policing is a new concept, it demands a positive shift from the traditional policing attitudes. So, the age-old mindset of the police personnel must be changed.
The police department is more conservative than other organisations. It was believed once that the mindset change of police is impossible. Community policing categorically emphases the sea change in policing. It emphasises the change in the organisational, tactical and external elements.
Tactically community policing takes a proactive and preventive action and addresses the root causes of crimes and disorders. Police officers, community members and other public and private organizations work together to solve the problems in a community. As community members are viewed as partners by the police, both have to shoulder equal responsibilities in problem solving. The prerequisite for implementing community policing is the change in the attitudes of both the police and the public. Therefore training on community policing is needed for the police officers as well as the community members.
In Bangladesh, the police establishment never encourages the participation of the community in police works. Bangladesh police, with their present law, rules and regulations, is an immensely bureaucratic organisation. So, inserting decentralised philosophy of community policing is nearly impossible. To make room for community participation, Bangladesh police must change their existing Police Act. Without changing the existing centralised police structure, community policing can never be practised.
Lack of training
The rank and file officers of Bangladesh police are trained in the academy where not an iota of community policing is taught. The training manual of Bangladesh Police Academy remains unaltered since 1912; and in 1912 the idea of community policing was not formed even in the USA. So, the philosophy of community policing is still vague to most of the Bangladeshi police officers.
It must be understood that the programme of community policing is not a programme of only the police department. It is rather a programme of the whole community. So, the community mobilisation is one of the major tasks for the community policing advocates. But the fact is that at present the Bangladeshi approach of community policing is exclusively a police activity.
Special fund is needed to materialise the community policing philosophy. The fund must come from the development budget. Additional police officers as well as non-police experts must be appointed. Bangladesh Police have an acute shortage of human resources. They can hardly perform their routine works with these resources. The community policing programme demands extra manpower. So, fresh recruitment of officers, for the implementation community policing program, is needed.
However, canceling LPR of the able bodied experienced police persons, the number of officers could be augmented. Besides this retired police officers of commendable quality could be appointed on contract basis in this purpose.
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More investment in agri sector might check price hike
Dhiraj Kumar Nath
Sustainable economy to ensure long term food security can not be achieved without making substantial investment in agriculture to contribute towards increasing gross domestic products. A country depending on higher import bill can not claim to be risk free on the strength of its growth of remittance or foreign exchange reserve whatever it might be. For Bangladesh, there is no scope to be complacent with the record high reserve of foreign exchange in excess of US$6 billion as of early March. Equally, it does not make any sense to be too happy to see the foreign remittance reaching $715 million in the month of January 2008.
Besides, the gradual growth in our foreign exchange earning from export of knitwear and woven garments along with the export of some non-traditional items like vegetables, cut-flowers and foliage, agro-processed foods, footwear and pharmaceuticals has given impression of a stable and bright economy. No doubt, these are indications of economic strength but not the answer for a sustainable economy in a country like ours where domestic demand increases rapidly with increased rate of population.
To ensure macro-economic stability, agriculture must be prioritized in comparison to other service sector. Agriculture comprising of crops and non-crops like forests, fisheries and livestock accounts for 19.49 per cent of GDP and employs over 63 per cent of skilled and un skilled workforce in our country.
The challenge
Bangladesh, no doubt, is endowed with fertile soil, appropriate ecological diversity and abundant ground water resources. This is a unique country having opportunities of generating farm and non-farm activities with minimum efforts and investments. Unfortunately, the potentials of agriculture sector have not been exploited adequately in spite of comparative advantages in the production of high value crops, fruits and flowers. Substantial initiatives have not been taken to explore the avenues of increased production of different varieties of agro-products in spite of commitments outlined in the National Agriculture Policy and Commissions constituted thereafter. In fact, it is difficult to gain remarkable successes or make visible break-through unless big entrepreneurs come forward with major investment in the agro-based and processing industries.
Most of the economists strongly feel that the core of widespread poverty, growing inequality, rapid population growth and rising unemployment, all find their origins in the stagnation and often retrogression of economic life in rural areas where agriculture is the mainstay.
Reasons for such deterioration are:
* Drastic reduction in public investment in agriculture.
Lack of adequate external resources for investment in agriculture.
Highly subsidized agriculture in developed countries.
Dumping of agricultural products by developed countries.
Sense of complacency of green revolution activities.
Constraints of Agriculture:
Apart from the above, agriculture sector in Bangladesh has some inherent constraints containing its growth and maintaining a gradual decline in its contributions to GDP. Some of these are as follows:
Dependence on the vagaries of nature having no long-term modern and scientific ways to combat the same.
Rapid decrease in the availability of cultivable land due to construction of houses on fertile agricultural land or on the pond, canal or river. Unfortunately, there is no rule in rural areas regarding the house building.
Widespread poverty among the marginal farmers engaged in agriculture and most of them are deeply indebted with the micro-credit or agricultural loan from the Banks.
Lack of required capital for agricultural activities with modern implements and innovative methods derived from R and D.
Uncertainty of fair prices of agricultural commodities due to underdeveloped marketing system and packaging procedures for export especially for horticulture and fruits and foliage.
Inadequate or absences of cold storage or cold chain system to maintain market prices stable round the year.
Availability of high yielding variety of seeds and preservation of the same to increase the farm products.
These constraints as described must be overcome with massive investment in the agriculture and devising pragmatic approaches to increase the production failing which we shall have to pay abnormal price for import as we find even now. The import of rice during the current fiscal year already stands to 29.95 lakh metric tons and this might reach to 40 lakh tons by June 2008. Surprisingly enough, the price of rice from India might be claimed to US $ 650 per metric ton while each ton is being sold at $330 in the district of Burdwan in West Bengal. If the import price reaches to such a stage, local market price of per kilogram of rice could more than Tk 45.00 per kilogram.
Investment in agri sector
Under such a situation with future possibilities of more acute problems, the only answer is to increase the local production through more investment with private -public partnership. There should be package of incentives, financial and technical, to invite investment to agriculture, a few of them are as follows:
*Technology transfer through intensive training or development of human resources. For this purpose, BARI, IRRI, BINA, CERDI and other agricultural colleges and universities may take concerted efforts under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Set up more modern research outfits with Tissue culture faculties in addition to the facilities now available at BARI or strengthening the existing facilities.
Review the Seed Policy and allow the import of seed of high value crops and distribution of the same to the marginal farmers.
Establishment of the EPZ for agro -processing industries. The EPZ for agriculture products established at Ishwardi, Pabna should be made functional with all available facilities.
The rate of interest for bank loan for investment in agriculture should be reduced and the spread should not be more than 3 % without service charges.
The subsidy for fertilizer and seed should be increased reasonably.
The Equity and Entrepreneur ship Fund of Bangladesh Bank should create more opportunities for investment in agriculture.
Duty rebate and cash incentive facilities for the export of agriculture and horticulture products should more pragmatic.
Investment for diversification and growth of high value crop will be rewarding. There is enough scope for production of Mushroom, Broccoli, Baby corn, French bean, Capsicum, Orchid and other ornamental plants. Due to the possibilities of export of these crops, investors in the private sector will feel it attractive.
There exists ample scope to derive edible oil from rice bran at Natore , Chapai Nawabgonj and Dinajpur. A large number of medium size rice bran oil processing mills could be established at Rajshahi Division. Besides, there is enough opportunity to export fine and aromatic rice like Kataribhog, Kalizira Chinigura etc. the production of which could increased with incentives.
Wheat price round the world is being increased faster and it might increase more due to crop failure and infestation in Canada and other European countries.
Potato at present is third staple food next to rice and wheat. Bangladesh can produce 45 lakh MT in a year. Establishment of Potato-based agro processing industries for French fries, potato chips, potato flakes with high yielding seeds can earn crores of foreign exchange.
Support to farmers in India: an example:
The Government of India has taken pragmatic approaches to increase the production in the agriculture. One of the encouraging fiscal measures as highlighted in the budget speech of the Indian Finance Minister, very recently was to write off the agricultural loan of farmers to the extent of Rs.60,000 crores. The central government shall reimburse and replenish the amount to the commercial banks and Cooperatives societies from whom farmers received the agricultural loans and credit for seeds, fertilizers etc. This is in fact a remarkable example to imitate.
Thus, investment in the agriculture sector to attain a sustainable economy in the country is the only answer to avoid any catastrophe of food autarky in the country. There is no way out to control the price spiral without increased production specially in the agriculture sector to help eventually reduce the cost of rice and other consumers essentials in the country. These should be taken into consideration during the finalization of the budget of 2008-2009 financial year with pragmatic approaches and fiscal measures to encourage the farmers and agro- based industries in particular.
Writer is a former Adviser to Caretaker Government
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