Sanwo-Olu inaugurates community policing operations teams

*Says ‘Initiative will address shortcomings of existing policing model’

*New approach to shift focus to proactive law enforcement – IGP

Lagos state has taken a crucial step towards improving security across the state, with the inauguration of the state community policing advisory committee and its operations arm, the state community policing committee.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday, inaugurated members of the two committees at a ceremony held at the State House in Alausa, Ikeja.

He pointed out that the event marks a turning point in his government’s deliberate efforts to re-strategise and rethink the security architecture, using community policing initiative as proposed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Muhammed Adamu.

The security initiative, the governor said, is long overdue, adding that the reform is being implemented with the objective of addressing inadequacies of the current policing model, which, he said, had failed to engage members of local communities and neighbourhoods in knowledge sharing and intelligence gathering that could help in nipping crime in the bud.

One of the committee is co-chaired by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu and the Chairman of the Council of Obas and Chiefs in Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, while the other committee will be responsible for managing and coordinating state-level operations of the community policing programme.

Sanwo-Olu said the community policing initiative was conceived and rolled out to achieve fundamental changes in the way the government responds to security matters and make security agencies proactive in discharging their statutory duties.

He said: “Today, is a particularly important and auspicious day for the good people of Lagos state. We are gathered here to take an important step in the implementation of a long overdue policing reform effort – the community policing initiative.

“In a democracy, the involvement of the people in all matters of governance, especially on issues that impact directly on their well-being is key to achieving good governance. 

“One of the inadequacies of our current policing system has been the inability to tap the knowledge and intelligence that exists at neighbourhood, and community level.

“The work that the police are expected to do becomes more difficult when they are expected to do it alone. 

“No matter how well-resourced or technologically advanced a police force might be, there might be no progress without the trust and support of the communities in which they operate.

“Every citizen has a role to play in ensuring that the security architecture functions optimally.”

The governor said deploying technology and equipping the police with modern gadgets to fight crime remain a novel idea any government can introduce, but added that such cannot be a substitute for mutual trust and cooperation between the police and members of host communities.

He said a citizen-centric approach to tackling crime and criminality would take a lot of pressure off the police and allow them to focus energy, and resources on issues that matter most.

Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in- charge of Training at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, Mr. David Folawiyo, who represented the inspector general of police, said the nation had reached a point where the police must interface with community members in maintaining social order.

“It is a bottom-up approach that shifts focus on reactive law- enforcement to proactive problem solving,” he said.