COMMUNITY POLICING
Introduction
Maithri is the name given to Community Policing in Andhra
Pradesh. It is a Police-Public partnership programme. This
programme orients the way the police should think and act.
It broadens the police mandate beyond the narrow focus of
fighting crime to include efforts to fight fear of crime
and disorder as well. This philosophy provides an organizational
strategy that motivates police officers to solve community
problems in new and innovative ways. It envisages that the
police must closely work with the people in the community
by allowing average citizens a say in the police process,
in exchange for their support and participation.
Maithri rests on the belief
that contemporary community problems require a decentralized
and personalized police approach which involves citizens in
the process of policing themselves. It creates a positive
shift in the role of the police from “working against
the bad people” to “working with the good people”
in the society. As a result, police no longer remain law enforcers
but take the role of facilitators and mentors to the society.
The programme has become
a great success, as people started appreciating police-public partnership
in making the society safer. By August 2002 as much as
25% of the habitations were covered under Maithri, with as many
as 6900 Maithri Committees with a membership of about 2.7
lakh citizens.
History
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Realizing the need for better Police
Community relations, the AP Police has initiated several
measures for meeting the present day Policing needs
. Maithri was launched in the year 2000 through out
the State. The mission of Maithri being " To render
curteous, compassionate and caring response and increase
public confidence in plice with respect to maintenance
of peace and order and feeling of safety from crime.
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