Traditionally, the approach to policing has been to view members of the force and the community as two different and opposing institutions. The police was used to uphold the law, enhance security and ensure safety in the community. (The police was/is also used as an instrument of coercion in certain cases, but that is a different issue.) Contact between the two mostly occurred when the law was disturbed. This situation hardly favoured the element of trust, vital if the two camps were to help each other. Mutual hostility developed between the two camps, each one eyeing the other with suspicion. However, there is a changing concept now being implemented across Europe and the United States, which seeks to restore confidence and, crucially, to redefine that relationship. Hence the idea of community policing.

Thus, the Irish government, copying projects in the United Kingdom, and across the US, is looking into ways to implement community policing. While it did exist in an informal manner, the new police bill looks to set it in a statutory basis and extends it nationwide. However, the first step is to recognise that the old model has not prevented crime from soaring and that something has to be done. A report recently produced by a joint party committee for the Irish government states that community schemes see the most effective way of dealing with local crime is by enlisting the informal and social agencies already operating within society. It has also identified a series of traditional approaches which explain the failure in dealing with crimes. The police force embraced too much of a reactive attitude towards their work. Furthermore, it also criticises the overdependence on motorised police patrols, which prevent the police from building roots in the community. All these problems could be mirrored in Mauritius, with very little change in fact.

Fear of crime

Another problem which has contributed to rising levels of crime has been the fear of crime itself. Thus, people tend to stay inside their houses, barricade themselves against the potential criminal lurking in the streets. The streets become empty after a certain time, as if a curfew has been imposed, further contributing to the risk of crime. In many ways, it has become a turf war between the communities and criminal elements, with the police not as a partner of the former. The report states that, despite statistical evidence showing a decrease in the number of reported crimes in the last few years, the fear of crime has increased. This feeling has been largely due to hysterical media reporting, which now specialise in gore and crime as their primary function. It seems fear sells newspapers and boosts TV audiences. Thus, it is up to the police to fill this ?reassurance gap?.

The parliamentary working group also defines the role of the police as not necessarily one of solving crime only. Together with the community, the police identify the causes of crime and problems related to crime. In fact, the scheme seeks to tackle crime in its embryonic stage. And here, it is important to stress that criminal law is not the only tool that should be used, but also an array of civil laws that are already available. This is crucial if the scheme is to work, because a zealous use of criminal laws can further alienate members of the community and cause resentment. As the report states, ?problems, not crime, become the organising core of police activity. The concern is with preventing future harm.?

Public/police partnership

Such an approach would require significant restructuring of the police force. According to the report, ?community policing in this way involves community empowerment. It also has implications for the police in terms of structural change. To be effective such an approach requires devolution of power within the police organisation and the decentralisation of police authority to patrol officers and a far greater emphasis on collaboration between police and community. The community policing approach emphasises ideas of consumer service, flexibility, consumer feedback and negotiation. Finally, this change in the police role necessitates training to enhance police understanding of the nature of community problems and for the development of problem-solving techniques.? This is based on the outline set up by the Patten Report (former governor of Hong Kong) for Northern Ireland, seen as the blueprint for any policing measures, due to the sensitive nature of the police establishment in the aftermath of the conflict.

While all this might sound like fancy talk, and nothing but an idealist viewpoint, with little practicality, one pilot project in the north of Dublin has proved its efficiency. Statistics revealed this week showed that there had been a marked increase of drug seizures compared to other parts of the city where community policing was absent. The scheme has also helped to improve the relationship between the people and the police. The project worked through the establishment of several networks within the community. Thus, housing estates and streets each had their committee which then arranged meetings with the police when problems were detected. Wider forum meetings are organised every three months where members of the local authority as well as elected public representatives attend to hear about the needs of the people. All these activities are organised around a forum, which publishes a report annually.

On paper, the idea of community policing looks ideal. However, for it to work properly there is a need to recruit more police and to boost their resources. This does not necessarily mean material resources, such as patrol cars and other gimmicks, but more training and the development of communications and mediating skills of the police. The projects should also be carefully monitored, as it certainly involves an element of Big Brother and could bring severe erosions of civil liberties. It could work in the short to medium term as it brings crime and crucially, the fear of crime, down.