The Indian Government will consider setting up a separate wing for community policing with entirely different uniform. This was stated by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, while replying to suggestions of Members of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs here recently.

The Union Home Minister said that some of programmes of community policing in different states have been successful and have continued to work even after the individuals who have initiated these programmes have moved on to other responsibilities. He said that the Kerala model was one of the best, while Delhi and Tamil Nadu models have also met with some success.

Members emphasised that none of the community policing schemes were really institutionalised. Adhocism is another characteristic of the community policing efforts in India. Some of the reasons outlined by members were that the experiments and programmes are not always tailored to community’s needs. They work well in times of crisis. Once the emergency passes, they lose momentum. The police-community relationships have mostly remained an urban phenomena. Suspicion and misunderstanding creep in after some time.

The members were unanimous in their opinion that more beat constables are required all over the country. They expressed concern over vacancies in law enforcement agencies, poor infrastructure and low morale. Chidambaram agreed that there are serious difficulties in implementing the community policing programme as many blocks existed without a police station due to severe shortage of constables.