Case Study of the Day: Ummeed – Community Policing by the Delhi Police

Context: The Delhi Police Commissioner has recently inaugurated a community policing programme named “Ummeed” in the north-east district of the national capital.

About Ummeed Programme

• Ummeed has been launched as a community policing programme, in a bid to ensure social harmony and peace between communities.
• Reasons for launching Ummeed
  • Since it is not feasible to deploy policemen in every nook and corner, a self-disciplined and service-oriented society is required to assist the police to establish peace and harmony.
  • To deal with few anti-social elements, which need to be identified and dealt with as per law.
  • To strengthen the common chord of togetherness and mutual trust between communities in order to live peacefully in the spirit of coexistence.
• About Community Policing
  • Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies to support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.
  • Components
    • Community Partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police.
    • Organizational Transformation, which involves alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving.
    • Problem Solving, which is the process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of identified problems to develop and evaluate effective responses.
• Current issues with traditional policing:
  • Centralization has dampened effectiveness of initiatives
  • Experts make blanket policies
  • Efficiency measured by statistics
  • The warrior image
  • Customs and values disconnect
  • Creates a ‘force’ and not a ‘service’
  • The US and THEM environment
• Benefits of Community Policing include:
  • No government funds are required
  • Enhances immunity against crime and disorder
  • Assists traditional policing
  • Bridges the gap of trust
  • Encourages social interactions
  • Police and public share credit and discredit
  • Police officer feels safe in his area of responsibility
  • Reliable and workable information is available
  • Inculcates sense of responsibility in the public
  • Police and the public are accountable to each other
  • Promotes democratic values in the society

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