ISLAMABAD: The police have once again revived community policing initiatives in the capital.

Police said activities related to community policing are in full swing in Islamabad, and various events are being organised to engage local residents and interact with them.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Omer Khan told Dawn that in the Saddar Zone, meetings are being conducted with local elders and notable residents to strengthen policing. Social media groups are also being made to stay in touch with residents and ask them to keep an eye on suspicious activities and people, he said.

SP Zubair Shaikh said the Industrial Area zone is also involved in such efforts, adding that the police have engaged members of the Christian community and were holding an event for them in connection with Christmas.

Police said students and residents were being engaged in various events in the City Zone as well.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Tanveer, the human rights officer at the Aabpara police station, told Dawn he had been organising various events including cleanliness activities in public spaces such as Argentina Park.

He said children were taken to parks and playgrounds, while women police officials were delivering lectures at girls’ educational institutions.

A visit to the Aabpara police station was organised for local elders and notable residents so they could meet with the police as part of the community policing effort, he said.

Officials from all four zones will also deliver lectures at religious seminaries, schools and colleges to raise awareness among students about refraining from narcotics, police said.

They said officials have been busy with security duties for the last five months, for occasions such as Eidul Azha, Independence Day and Muharram as well as events such as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Azadi March turned sit-in.

Because of the lack of manpower, officials deputed at police stations as human rights officers for community policing efforts were also involved in security and crime-related duties for this period, they said. As such, they did not have time to focus on community policing.

But now community policing activities are in full swing, they said. Human rights officers appointed to police stations are responsible for community policing, preventing human rights violations by police at police stations and managing reconciliation committees. They are also supposed to organise meetings between local officials and notable residents and traders.

The police said officials can win the confidence of the people through community policing. They said community police have three parts; the first phase is characterised by interaction, following by community members sharing their issues in the second phase and collective solutions being made in the third phase.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2019