COMMUNITY POLICING AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Template Tools

Written by Administrator

Saturday, 27 June 2009 21:01

AN ADDRESS BY THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE SIR (DR) MIKE M. OKIRO CFR, NPM, mni

ON THE LEADERSHIP RETREAT/SENIOR EXECUTIVE TRAINING ON COMMUNITY POLICING

AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

It is with great sense of humility and involved responsibilities that I welcome this distinguished audience to the auspicious occasion of this security retreat 2008 in this ancient city of Kaduna. It is indeed a thing of joy to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to the organizers of this event for considering me worthy to play this critical role as the special guest of honor here today.

I must say that the theme of this security retreat is quite apt and timely particularly as it is taking place at such a crucial period in our national history when we have decided to embrace Policing by body politic.

Secondly, it is taking place at such a critical time when all hands are towards the realization of Mr President=s economic vision of making Nigeria one of the twenty most developed economies of the world by the year 2020. My mission for the Nigeria Police is tied to that of Mr President=s vision and the essence is to create a safer and more secured environment conducive for meaningful socio-economic development through crime prevention and control. The rationale for this stems from the fact that these can be no meaningful socio-economic development without internal security. Domestic peace, law and order.

It is for this purpose that I crave your indulgence to reframe the theme which was originally captioned Community Policing and Conflict Management to A Community Crime Prevention and Control@. This has become expedient as a result of the urgency of the clarion call to ensure that there is a conducive atmosphere for the realization of Mr President=s economic vision. To ensure the realization of this mission of the Nigeria Police, I designed the following strategies which will serve as the road map to the realization of this dream. These are:

i Full implementation of the9-point agenda;

i Crime prevention option in line with UN guidelines;

i Establishment of 6 additional PMF squadrons;

i Revitalization of criminal intelligence gathering techniques of the CIB;

i Training & Retraining of personnel;

i Judicious utilization of Police Public Information boxes;

i Creation of additional Duty Posts;

Divisional Police Public Relations Officers

Conflict Resolution Officers

Human Right Officers

Juvenile/Old People/Women Welfare Officers

Pipeline Patrol Officers

Community Policing Officers

Scene of Crime Officers

i Creation of specialized units;

Anti-Terrorism Squad

i Action plan template

(detailed action plan on implementation of

my 9-way test)

i Sport and games

For confidence and trust building because of its relevance in information gathering.

COMMUNITY BASED CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMMES

In this programme, cooperation and collaboration between the local communities is of utmost importance. This is very relevant to our crime prevention and control campaign and our option of policing by the body politic.

By crime prevention option, we attempt to use social resources to change the conditions that can predispose people to commit crimes. A pertinent question therefore arises here: A How can our development partners like the Bristish Council (DFID and other security stakeholders support the Nigeria Police in her current crime prevention and control campaign?. They could assist by:

By building Recreation Rooms, Inspectors= Mess and Canteens in the various Police Divisions so as to encourage members of the public to interact with the Police for greater information flow, through improved trust and confidence in the Police. In fact the above fora have always been our traditional informal interaction venues for information gathering.

Building Recreation Rooms, Inspectors= Mess and Canteens in the various Police Divisions so as to encourage members of the public to interact with the Police for greater information flow, through improved trust and confidence in the Police. In fact the above fora have always been our traditional informal interaction venues for information gathering.

Organizing football competitions between the youths in the area who will form part of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) Football Teams comprising of both Policemen and youths from all the Local Government Areas,

Constructing more Police Stations and Posts and requesting for IGP=s formal approval,

Forming and funding a strong P.C.R.C and making electronic Identity cards for such P.C.R.C members in the Local Government Area,

Forming and funding registered Vigilante Groups and making electronic Identity card for them. These Vigilante Group members who are volunteer youths of the Local Government will join the Police in team patrols within the nooks and crannies of the Local Government Area for crime prevention and control. Having realized the importance of the PCRC, the Nigeria Police in 1984 for the first time approved the formation of these committees with the following objectives:

# To mix freely with members of the community in order to promote understanding and confidence in them and to bridge the gap of credibility between the Police and the community,

# To deliberately involve members of the various communities in the effective policing of their areas,

# To discuss freely Police/Public relations with a view to improving the image of the Police,

# To discuss and find ways of discouraging or minimizing crime and other matters of security concern and subsequently find solutions to problems that may arise from time to time,

# To provide forum through which members of the Public and the Police can discuss how to arrange and supervise community volunteer or vigilante groups when formed,

# To evolve any possible system where private guard could be effectively utilized for the stated goals after thorough screening by the Police,

# To form an intelligent network that may be used to reduce, minimize and dislodge criminals or any other undesirable element and saboteurs,

# To scout for and recruit suitable hands into Constabulary cadres of the Police Force and finally reassure the local community of the need to encourage their sons and daughters to seek meaningful careers in the Police Force.

5. In order to stamp out possible abuse of this privilege, the following guidelines were provided for PCRC operation at Divisional levels;

(a) A reputable L.G.A member to be the Chairman

(b) DPO to be the Vice Chairman

(d) They should be able to recommend for the future establishment of Police Posts

(e) To ensure that vigilante groups do not degenerate to training ground for political thugs

(f) To discuss ways and means of rendering assistance for effective Police performance in the Division and State Command at large

(g) Committee is at liberty to deliberate on fund raising modalities for meaningful projects.

In fact we even have executive committees of the PCRC at the states and national levels.

6. In addition to this, the following guidelines are for the operation of vigilante groups;

! Members must submit their passport photographs with a file jacket containing their autobiography,

! Under no circumstance should a vigilante group operate a centre for the detention of persons arrested without Police permit. They are not to be armed with prohibited fire arms,

! All persons arrested by vigilante groups should be handed over to the Police immediately in accordance with the provisions of the law,

! Vigilante group members do not enjoy any special privileges over any other private person for being a vigilante. It is more or less a community service affair,

! Vigilante groups should pass any information received to Police immediately. Vigilante groups should not act on information themselves,

! Vigilante groups must never operate on their own except accompanied by Police who are to work with them,

! Vigilante groups should attend Police lectures at Police Headquarters premises forth nightly,

! The officer in charge reserve the right to terminate the operation of any vigilante group earlier approved by him if violation of law is reported,

! The O/C reserves the right to appoint a coordinator to coordinate the activities and report to him for weekly assessment.

CONCLUSION

In the final analysis, the assertion of Harry Moore (Jnr), a community Development expert becomes apt when he noted that ACommunity crime prevention and control depends to a very large extent upon high level of confidence and trust that the people have in their Police.

As long as the confidence and trust remain low, the people will frequently not notify the Police of situations that require enforcement or prevention. I want to assure you especially our distinguished guests and Development partners that the Nigeria Police Force under my leadership is vigorously committed to the laudable ideals of nationhood. With your collaboration and support, we intend to maintain a hybrid internal security in keeping with UN guidelines on crime prevention and control in our society. This will indeed enhance the realization of my mission statement of creating safer and more secured environment conducive for meaningful socio-economic development. Together we shall reach the ideal.

Thanks for your rapt attention and God bless.

Comments

RSS