As part of activities to ensure the full implementation of the community policing initiative the Nigeria Police Force has trained Community Policing Officers (CPO) on their specific duties and roles in a community policing environment.
Flagging off the a one-day sensitisation workshop for CPOs across the country, Thursday at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, said he was elated because Community Policing strategy as approved by the Federal Government was gradually taking root in Nigeria and was being embraced by the the Nigerians, who are their most strategic partners.
He said the training, among others, would enable police personnel to understand fully, the concept and be able to exude conducts and attitudes expected of them in relation to their specific duties and roles in a community policing environment.
“Community policing strategy is an initiative intended to bring policing closer to the community through partnership and problem solving approach. It is based on the premise that both the police and the community must work together to identify, prioritise and solve contemporary problems such as fear of crime, social and physical disorder, and overall neighbourhood security threats, with the goal improving the quality of life in our communities.
“The strategy relies on organisational decentralisation and reorientation in order to facilitate two-way communication between the public and the police. Our mission in adopting this strategy is to control crime and made our communities safer.
“It is in this light that we have in synergy with the state governments succeeded inaugurated Community Policing Committees across the federation.
“These committees are responsible for identifying suitable members of their communities for appointment as Community Policing Officers, who will work with the Police and the community in identifying peculiar security issues and jointly develop strategies to mitigate them.”
According to the police boss, “In the conceptualisation of the strategy, capacity building and effective communication of the strategy within the Police Force are pivotal to the success of the project. It is against this background that we deemed it necessary to commence the sensitisation of officers and men of the Force with the first being, this workshop for CPOs drawn from across the country.
“In no distant future, similar workshops and trainings will be replicated in all Commands which will be replicated in all Commands which would be principally facilitated by those being trained here today. These training will enable police personnel to understand fully, the concept and be able to exude conducts and attitudes expected of them in relation to their specific duties and roles in a community policing environment.”
Speaking further, he said: “The plans for the sensitisation workshops targeted at all other relevant stakeholders in the community policing project across the country are being finalised. The expected outcomes of this workshop are to ensure that the Police Officers are imbued with sufficient knowledge of the community policing strategy and the guidance needed to support and strengthen the initiative.
“They are to understand that community policing is a partnership with the community and it is intended to make policing more effective not a ploy to curtail the powers of the police in the discharge of our statutory duties.”It is expected that the participants would be appropriately informed about the roles assigned to them in the community policing project and shall be responsible for transferring the knowledge they acquire today to other police officers in their respective commands.”
Also, addressing the participants, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Department of Research and Planning, Force Headquarters, DIG Adeleye Oyebade, said the workshop was aimed at strengthening the intellectual capacity of CPOs towards adequately positioning them for the onerous task of ensuring the success of community policing as a role model expected to address the security challenges in the country.
While disclosing that CPOs have been recruited from all the 774 local government areas in the country, he noted that the recruitment would be followed by training and kitting before the CPOs are posted to their various communities to complement efforts of regular Police in law enforcement duties.
