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- Title
Prevention of Crime and Community Policing in India: An Empirical Evaluation of the Strategies and Practices of the Delhi Police.
- Authors
Sharma, Rajvir
- Abstract
The police are faced with new challenges in a democratising India that is beset with corruption, and has a predominantly parochial social structure, an unequal distribution of national wealth and prevailing poverty. Policing urban areas is also becoming difficult in view of increases in the poor, the unemployed, organised crime, pressure on infrastructure and basic amenities, illegal settlements and ruralisation of the urban territories. There has been a growing perception of the decaying policing system in terms of credibility, popular image, corruption and attitudinal dimensions of policing in India (see Indian National Police Commission Report, vol.II, Delhi: Government of India, 1979). The police—public interface in India is witness to the continuing, if not growing, mistrust, which critically impacts on police performance at the cutting edge, i.e. the police station. It is the meeting place for the criminal justice system and the community, where the people are the direct recipients of good or bad delivery of justice and service. The fairness and effectiveness of the process is dependent on law enforcement officers and any unwarranted action and practices on their part may erode public trust and tarnish the police image. The people are at the centre of the whole exercise, both as subjects and objects. Hence, policing has to be community-based and community-oriented with the active coordination and cooperation of the public. It is necessary for the prevention of crime, which is receiving increasing attention from policy makers as well as civil society and even the common man. The present study is an empirical endeavour at the micro-level, Delhi, the capital city of India, to find the meaning, acceptance and operation of the paradigm shift in the police arising from the understanding that, in maintaining social order and crime management, public cooperation is paramount.
- Subjects
INDIA; CRIME prevention; COMMUNITY policing; SOCIAL conditions in India; CITIES &; towns
- Publication
Police Journal, 2006, Vol 79, Issue 1, p43
- ISSN
0032-258X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1350/pojo.2006.79.1.43