Janamaithri Suraksha Project - Kerala Police

to note that the Kerala Police leadership now observe that the JSPs are working well not merely
because of the Samithi membership that mobilises public participation in the initiative. It was found
that grass roots involvement resulted in non-Samithi members coming to meetings so to provide
their feedback and inputs.19 While the composition of the Samithi remains important, that by itself
does not guarantee success. It is important that the layman is also involved and that can only
occur with greater awareness of the objectives and purposes of the JSP.
However there is one area of concern. The Samithis’ constitution and selection of members
is left ,entirely to the District Police Chief. There are concerns that members of the $amithis do not
necessarily reflect the diversity of a’ particular community and are at times ‘friends or favourites of
the police’. Whilst this criticism may be unfounded, leaving the selection solely to the discretion of
the District Police Chief will only escalate these concerns. For community policing to be truly
effective, it should be inclusive and allow for maximum participation.
A crucial element leading to the success of any community policing initiative is the training of
police/Beat Officers. The Kerala police laid great emphasis on this. Since the ‘entire success of
the JSP hinges on the effectiveness of the Beat Officers, it is critically important that their capacity
is built so that they can solve problems. and deal with the public in a thoughtful and respectful
manner. JSP training is conducted at the State Level (in either Thrissur or Thiruvananthapuram)
by senior police officials where 40-50 people are trained over three days. When the JSP was
implemented in the first 20 police stations of Phase I, the DGP, Jacob Punnoose, Dr.B.Sahdhya
(IGP and Nodal Officer for the JSP) and Mr.Hemachandran(IGP Range) personally interacted with
each Beat Officer during the training phase.
Furthermore , during the training for Phase I, which was also done at the district level, community
members were included. The training was largely about teaching Beat Officers on how to listen to
people rather than simply expecting the public to obey them. In that way, their mindset had to be
changed and this could be done only under the dose supervision of senior police leadership. Political
acceptance of this initiative was crucial for its success. The Kerala police managed this by getting both
the ruling and ‘opposition, parties agreeing to the idea of community policing. As-with any aspect of
police reform, nothing substantive can be accomplished in the absence of political will. The important
consultations in September 2007 laid the groundwork for a non- politicised approach to the JSP. If the
JSP had been viewed as a political project, very little would have been accomplished,” One sign of the
JSP’s success is that politicians from various political parties expressed an interest in undertaking
community policing in their jurisdictions. With ,140 Assembly seats in the state and only 43 JSPs
underway, several MLAs are clamouring for Phase III JSPs to be initiated in their constituencies.
Finally, the-fact remains that the JSP would not work if it were inadequately resourced. In
2009, the JSP received Rs.42 lakh and in 2010, Rs. 254 lakh.83 While more money is always
required for ambitious undertakings such as the JSP, the Kerala government’s commitment to the
initiative is evidenced by the substantial amount of funds they have allocated to date.
3. Organisation
The success of a community policing initiative is often contingent on the strength of that jurisdiction’s
police leadership. In Kerala, the JSP benefited tremendously with DG Punnoose and IGP Sandhya
spearheading the effort. Both demonstrated a willingness to listen to the public, including nongovernmental
organisations and to adapt to constantly changing circumstances. Importantly, the
Kerala government chose not to; transfer DG Punnoose prematurely and permitted him to stay on
as Director General so that he may competently guide the JSP through its critical first steps, After
the elections and the change in government ‘in early’201l, there were no major transfers of crucial
police posts. Even with a change in political leadership, the police leadership was permitted to
continue functioning without major disruptions.
Additionally the Kerala police has instituted strict criterion for the recruitment of Beat Officers. The
criterion takes into account traits such as past performance, bad habits (i.e. drinking), and
demonstrated good behaviour towards the public. Before selecting a Beat Officer, these
35