DGP’s Public Outreach

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat

The Director General of J&K Police (DGP) RR Swain soon after assuming his charge few months back announced that he will hold two-hour public grievance meetings twice every month. The DGP started his public grievance redressal program from Srinagar and then held another one at Jammu. This was followed by several other programmes in Srinagar, Jammu and at district level as well. Grievance redressal camps were held in north and south Kashmir as well in last to three months.
From November 2023 onwards till end of February the DGP RR Swain has presided over eight such outreach programmes in different district headquarters where he interacted with around 2500 individuals. During these programmes more than 1550 public grievances were recorded as well. As per media reports more than 60 grievances were addressed on the spot and necessary written directions were given to different police officers which included ADG’s, IGP’s, DIG’s and district SSP’s. In January this year DGP held a grievance camp in south Kashmir as well. On December 16th 2023 around 300 persons attended the public grievances redressal camp at PHQ Srinagar. Aggrieved citizens who visit these grievance redressal camps appreciated the DGP’s approach and social media, news channels carried several such interviews.
Ali Mohammad an aggrieved citizen while talking to media persons said: “ It could have taken me months to get a meeting fixed with the DGP to seek redressal of my grievance, but this programme has brought a platform for the people to seek the intervention of top authorities to get their issues resolved within a shortest possible time”.
These public outreach programmes are unique and previous DGP’s were not focussed on such interactions and that is why these meetings continue to receive an overwhelming response. In PHQ Jammu on December 23rd 2023 DGP met the public for 5-hours and during this time he met with 237 individuals, including women and senior citizens. In many cases the DGP issued on-spot orders to various police wings to ensure redressal of the grievances.
Quick disposal of grievances
As per media reports a widow approached the DGP RR Swain during grievance redressal programme complaining of having been duped of Rs 8.60 lakh on the pretext of getting her a government plot of land. The DGP made a promise to the lady that she would get the money back in 10 days. The woman had been cheated of her husband’s terminal benefits some seven years back. In less than 10 days she got her money back while those who had duped her have been booked under law.
In another case a wife of a policeman complained that her husband had been given a posting far away from his home and he had not been transferred back to Kashmir valley for many years. Justice was given to the family as the policeman was posted back in Kashmir after many years.
Community Policing
The DGP’s interaction with aggrieved citizens is not only meant to address their grievances but he gets a great public feedback as well about functioning of the police department and its different units. These meetings with different people from different backgrounds and areas give it a shape of Community Policing which is held in collaboration and partnership with the community as a whole. The essence of community policing is to reduce the gap amongst the police and citizens to such a degree that the policemen become a combined part of the community which they serve. They get recognition and confidence from the society which further results in unstructured collaboration and cooperation from the people. The community policing does bridge the gap between ‘aam admi’ (common man) and police but at the same time this sends warning signals to the criminal elements as well. Due to lack of interaction between common man and police, the blue-eyed people or influential people get access to police which is not at all good for better policing. This leads to corruption and favouritism as common man feels isolated and develops negative perceptions about police, especially at Thana level.
Community policing first demands that everyone in the police department and the civilians must investigate ways to translate the philosophy of power-sharing into practice. This demands making a subtle but sophisticated shift so that everyone in the department understands the need to focus on solving community problems in creative, and often ways, that can include challenging and enlightening people in the process of policing themselves.
Community policing implies a shift within the department that grants greater autonomy (freedom to make decisions) to line officers, which also implies enhanced respect for their judgment as police professionals. Within the community, citizens must share in the rights and responsibilities implicit in identifying, prioritizing, and solving problems, as full-fledged partners with the police.
Public trust
The community involvement in policing has a tremendous importance for building public trust and increasing police capabilities to fight crime. This will also help to build an effective police-public relation as well. The important and key element in community policing is to build public trust and the proven path to this is right composition of the Civil Society Committees, and by having regular meetings attended by both the public and police. I would appreciate it if the initiative taken by DGP RR Swain is replicated at Thana level, sub-division level or district level as well. It needs dedicated meetings between police and public spirited citizens held at least once or twice a month. Such meetings will help promote cooperation between the police and the public in fulfilling the needs of the community regarding policing. This will also promote communication between the police and the community and improve the rendering of police services to the community at the state, district and local level. Lastly, it will improve transparency and accountability of the police before the community and promote joint problem identification and problem-solving by the police and the community. At a time when Jammu & Kashmir is facing several societal challenges like drug abuse, substance use, cyber crime, burglary, criminal intimidation etc the relationship between law enforcement agencies especially the J&K Police and the communities needs to be strengthened. The concept of community policing emerges as a beacon of hope and a transformative approach to law enforcement.
Conclusion
The public grievance redressal camps held by DGP J&K Police RR Swain at Police Headquarters in Srinagar, Jammu & other districts, is indeed appreciable. The incumbent DGP who is workaholic and known for his honesty and uprightness has already made it clear that corruption and mis-governance in police force won’t be tolerated. The Police Chief seeks feedback from field officers, Range DIG’s, District SSP’s, SP’s through video conferencing for hours together and he doesn’t even get exhausted. I believe this is the right time our District Superintendents of Police – (SSP’s or SP’s), Sub-Divisional Police Officers-SDPO’s and Station House Officers-SHO’s should chalk out a strategy that focuses on developing relationships with community members and they too must hold public durbar at least once a week. Traditional policing models have often left communities feeling disconnected, mistrustful, and marginalized. However, the tide is shifting as more law enforcement agencies acknowledge and recognize community policing across the world.

(The author is an Acumen Fellow. He is Founder and Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement; and can be reached at: bhatrajamuzaffar@gmail.com)