Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, recently bought into the idea of community policing when he said at the graduation of officers from the Advanced Detective Course, Police Staff College, Jos, Plateau State, that community policing would ensure low crimes in communities. He also held the view that if the scheme was achieved, it would be a perfect force to stamp out hate speeches, insurgency and other societal ills.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had last August ordered Idris to start implementing community policing as an effective means of preventing crime. Whilst there are no indications that he obeyed that order the way he recently disobeyed President Muhammadu Buhari, he seems to have bought into the idea already.
But the truth is that canvassing community policing is like putting the cart before the horse, when a simple support for a multi-level policing would have long put paid to such a debate and more importantly, crime prevention. They can talk about the community policing from now till ‘thy kingdom come,’ it is unlikely to have any meaningful effect, because the structure, modus operandi and the perception are still the same.
Community policing is a good and sure way to rid the society of petty crimes as well as providing solid tip-off on other major crimes but it must be allowed to sit properly within the framework of multi-level policing if it must yield desired result. Mr. IG should take note.
