Context: Delhi Police Commissioner has inaugurated a community policing programme ‘Ummeed’ in the North-East district of Delhi.
About Ummeed Initiative

• Ummeed is a community policing programme that aims to promote unity and mutual trust between communities so that everyone can live peacefully.

Need

• Crime has no religion and only a few anti-social elements spoil the social environment. Such unscrupulous elements need to be identified and dealt with as per law

Community Policing

• It is a policing in active consultation, cooperation and partnership with the community at large. 
• It requires the police to work with the community for prevention and detection of crime, maintenance of public order, and resolving local conflicts. It will provide for a better quality of life and a sense of security.

Examples of Community Policing in India

• Janamaithri Suraksha in Kerala: It was introduced in 2008 to facilitate greater accessibility and closer interaction between police and the local community. 
• Meira Paibi (Torch-bearers) in Assam: The women of the Manipuri Basti in Guwahati help with improving the law and order problem in their area, by tackling drug abuse among the youth. They light their torches and go around the basti guarding the entry and exit points, to prevent the youth of the area from going out after sunset.

Various other community policing models are: 

• Rajasthan through ‘Joint Patrolling Committees’
• Tamil Nadu through ‘Friends of Police’
• West Bengal through the ‘Community Policing Project’
• Andhra Pradesh through ‘Maithri'
• Maharashtra through ‘Mohalla Committees’.

Benefits of Community Policing

• Residents have a more favourable view of their local police department.
• Improved trust between law enforcement and residents.
• More accurate information from residents regarding criminal activity in their community.
• A better understanding of the needs of citizens and their expectations of the police. 

By: Shubham Tiwari