A Quotient of Power

A quotient of power vests in the very word,"police." Hence, some officers with an intent to kill the concept of FOP recommended that the word," police" should not be used to designate such volunteers. But,what they fail to see with typical narrowmindedness and shortsightedness in such a pernicious recommendation is that with the empowerment that ordinary people get by such a designation, the nation itself is empowered to better combat the fissiparous forces of Naxalism, terrorism, militancy and the like. People once empowered as FOP are willing to break rank with their own community to assist the security forces.

One solution that addresses two problems

Everything has two dimensions- the quantitative dimension and the qualitative dimension. Talking about life, the quantitative dimension is how long one lives or the issue of longevity ; the qualitative dimension is how well one has lived- the issue of how happy he/she is and how happy he/ she has made others. The quantitative dimension is about how much income a man earns; the qualitative dimension is how well has he earned it and how well is he spending or saving it. FOP is a 142 solution in this sense that it resolves the quantitative problem of numbers, of inadequate police personnel for a given population. It also addresses the qualitative problem of motivation and morale of the police personnel, the commitment of the citizenry to good quality life and good quality policing, the ground support for the police, the empathy of the public with the difficulties of the police, the flow of information, intelligence and goodwill towards the police. The UHM had raised the issue of both the quantitative problem facing the police of inadequate police-public ratio given the spectrum of problems facing the country and the security forces. He had also raised the qualitative problem of insufficient motivation and training. FOP can make a contribution to resolving both questions cost effectively.

Resistance factor of FOP

Every forward movement produces a counter force of resistance. Every revolution, even the quiet ones , has to confront a Gang of Four. Someone wrote on TopCop recently, that there can possibly be no counter logic to the FOP idea, but he is underestimating the four factors of resistance. Some senior officers resist and even would like to fight the idea into non-existence due to an ego issue that the idea is someone else's and not theirs. Of course, they will give some other ostensible reasons for doing so. Some resist because they have joined the IPS or the police not to share power but to concentrate or accumulate power in their own hands. Some resist because they are not able to understand all the holistic dimensions of the concept and state how can we designate some citizens only as Friends of Police- does it mean all the others are enemies? A good number of subordinate police officers may resist because it exposes their acts of corruption and lends some transparency to police functioning on a day to day basis since civilians will get access to the police station. Some resist because they feel that it might add to their work burden without realizing that it will in the long run reduce their workload and act as a force multiplier. Some resist because they are not able to trust the public and feel that it will tend to be misused. Some resist it because they feel they would become unpopular as the idea or project was initiated under a particular political dispensation.Except the category of officers who resist it due to personal or ego reasons, all the others can be disabused of their notions through exposure and training. Sometimes all these factors and forces gang up together to become a veritable "Gang of Four."

FOP - training modules

The people gives the police the power and through FOP the police can give back the power to the people. The whole concept of Friend of Police must have evolved at my subconscious or what I call the sub-knowledge level from the French word for the policeman, " agent de police." So, instead of agent, at the conscious level, I chose Friend as it comes from the Latin word, " phile" which means love. If you love yourself you would be interested in your self preservation and promotion. The FOP concept is holistic in the sense it is based on the philosophy of true friendship or relationship. If you love your self, you need to observe and adopt certain principles of conduct- you must be first and foremost, a Friend of Principles. In the FOP multimedia training, we first focus on intrapersonal communication. What do you communicate to your deeper, intimate self? What is your self view as opposed to your world view? Unless intrapersonal communication is on sound grounds, interpersonal communication cannot be. Unless our view of our role as police men or officers is holistic and sound, our enactment of our public duties would be flawed. In pursuit of this goal, we stated that FOP training would take place on the paradigm of ASK or Attitude first and foremost, Skills (soft)next and Knowledge or facts or information last. The modules that were employed to address attitudes were Equilibrium Thinking, a pattern of thinking, being and doing that I had evolved and tested over a period of thirty years. In addition, we employed Neurolinguisic programming techniques for the first time to alter the mutual perceptions of police and FOPs. The feedback received about these attitude modules were excellent , both in the pilot project in 2002-2003 as well as in the state wide training of 50,000 police personnel of various ranks and 50,000 FOP volunteers in all districts and cities of the state of TN.

Harnessing idle human resources for policing

Every time, a state announces recruitment of say 3,000 to 10,000 constables, more than ten times that number apply. This enables us to gauge the extent of idle human resources eager and willing to be employed as policemen or policewomen. Large numbers of these candidates have volunteered as FOPs in Tamil Nadu and a good number have been subsequently employed either as constables, or sub-inspectors of police. It needs a fairly longer run-up than just six months or two years of training as the case may be for constables or Sub-inspectors but when they volunteer as FOPs they develop their aptitude and abilities to serve as full time police professionals. A few FOPs have even succeeded in joining as DySPs, as ASPs and one FOP student coordinator belonging to the Muslim community has joined the IFS and is currently serving in the UK. FOP multimedia training as well as the leadership training they get while volunteering service is a huge asset in preparing them for their future career. If some weightage is given at the time of selection for police personnel who had served as FOPs, it will further give a fillip to the movement.

Training of Private security industry and quid pro quo

The UHM bemoans the fact that Indian police is lacking in adequate manpower, equipment and training. The rato of policemen to public is often taken as a barometer of public security. He has proposed that the states double the police strength by a factor of two and double their present training capacity to work towards that goal over a period of the next decade possibly. Ideally, ( in lighter vein) it would be best to have a ratio of one is to one or one policeman for every citizen. But, as indicated in my blog elsewhere, studies have shown that a mere increase in police numbers do not tantamount to security or a decrease in crime or increase in publc confidence. The solution I propose is that the state should train new entrants to the private security industry that boasts of an existing strength of 55 lakhs and is estimated to grow at a rate of twenty per cent per annum. The training should be done on the lines of what Punjab police is currently doing and Rajasthan police too is attempting, where the state private security guards training institutions will give requisite training to eligible and willing candidates free of cost and certify them. As a quid pro quo, all of them will act as veritable Friends of Police. A MOU can be signed with the private security industry to make available such numbers of their manpower so trained for public duties in emergencies, for conduct of elections and so on. Police forces freed from the excessive burden of policing a mammoth population in this manner can then focus on fighting crime, Maoism and so on. Imagine also the flow of information from these 55 lakhs plus security guards.
prateep

How is it one solution for two problems

FOP is not a panacea for the ills of modern society or modern day policing but it offers one solution for two problems:
Take the issue of press hostility to the police- when the Press are wooed and won over as FOP, they begin to act as eyes and ears of the police. The trust deficit has to be overcome first

Take the issue of political interference- when police are in direct touch with people at large and through their ambassadors-the FOPs, when politicians in seats of power interfere unduly, they will feel the popular backlash in due course or through the ballot box.

Take the issue of public distrust of the police, so much so many citizens begin to believe that the police are in cahoots with the criminals and are not willing to share information about crimes with the former. When the bridges of mutual understanding are laid through FOP, the trust deficit again is overcome and people begin to trust their police.

The police are not everywhere, all the time but people are everywhere, all the time. Hence, any ground level intelligence can percolate from the local people. Take the case of landing of Pakistan based terrorists in a fishing hamlet off the coast of Mumbai, if there were FOPs in that locality, they would have noticed " the odd man out" of ten young men with backpacks, dressed neatly in jeans and T-shirts, landing in rubber dingies on the beach. Ground level intelligence can emanate only from citizens on the spot where the action begins. It will give a head start or a lead to the police.

FOP - a solution for VOP Protection

According to the World Summit on Social Development, 1992," The best investments in social and economic policy are those that empower the individual." FOP empowers and enables the individual citizen to contribute his/her mite to personal, local and national security. As the catchword of Homeland Security in the USA post 9/11 is " See something, say something", FOPs are sensitised to give priority to national security. They also contribute to local security by being watchful, doing night patrols on foot with or without accompanying policemen. They become more aware and conscious of how best to safeguard their own personal security. They think globally, act locally. Acting locally does not necessarily mean being involved only in police related activities but it could also mean doing some kind of community service. As another friend of mine from Australia says, " Wisdom is being involved in the local community."Very Ordinary Person Protection If our nation consists of 1.2 billion people and if one million are VIPs of one kind or other, the remaining are the faceless, nameless billion plus VOPs or Very Ordinary Persons. The VIPs exist for the sake of the VOPs and not the other way around. The protection of the VOPs is the ultimate and immediate goal and priority of the police and security forces. Having said this much, VOP protection is the most neglected aspect of security management today in the country as can be seen in the incident of gang rape and murder in Delhi recently. There is a need to focus on VOP protection and develop systems for intelligence, deterrence, prevention and detection of crimes and violence against VOPs. In this context, FOP or Friends of Police is the solution to better organize the protection of VOPs. While one cannot ever provide one policeman to protect every singly citizen, we can mobilize millions of ordinary law abiding citizens as FOPs. Soon after the Mumbai terror attack, the well known former tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan was mentioning to his companion during their morning walk, “ There is an organization called Friends of Police that enables citizens to contribute to security.” To this day Ramanathan Krishnan may not know that his conversation was heard and reported by a passing FOP. The presence of FOPs who cannot be identified greatly increases the flow of information and intelligence while multiplying the much needed goodwill for the police. Friends of Police will act as a force multiplier for the police across the nation. If the number of law abiding citizens in the country is one billion plus, we will automatically have one billion FOPs even if they do not come to their respective police stations to formally register. Imagine the deterrence created by a billion pair of eyes,ears, brains, hands and legs working in sync to strengthen internal security. It is a cost effective and holistic security solution. The idea of FOP will spread like virally like a meme to create change in the police towards the law abiding citizens and change in the attitude of the law abiding citizens towards the police.

Other dimensions of FOP-Friends of Press

The acronym FOP also stands for Friends of Principles, Friends of Progress, Friends of Pupils, Friends of Press. Taking the last mentioned aspect first, the first person to enrol as a FOP in Ramnad District was a pressman. The Press played a significant and crucial role in spreading the message of the new concept and movement far and wide. In fact, the first volunteers joined because they read headline news that we were going to enrol 20,000 Friends of Police in the district. But of late , I find the press has become cynical like the other players in public life. Even though we informed the mainstream English newspapers in Chennai about the flagging off of five cyclists on a gruelling 14,600 kilometers cycleothon around the country, not one of these papers thought it fit to publish news of this gallant effort. I find they are increasingly becoming intolerant and unappreciative of good news and are specialising in publishing bad news of disasters, scams and so on. However, the point I wish to make is that if the police choose to befriend the Press and media, the latter become valuable sources of information and goodwill instead of being adversaries and critics.

A Killer Idea

A friend of mine called Osama, not that one -the other Osama, described the FOP idea as a killer idea. I wonder it is a killer idea because a lot of powerful forces and persons tried to kill it from its infancy and even now have it high on their agenda. Probably, he called it a killer idea because it attacks the root and branch of crime, disorder, terrorism et al. Crime begins in the minds of men and the best place to strike at it is by a conceptual understanding of what role every enlightened citizen needs to play in the modern world. FoP gives a multifarious role to the citizen to realize himself or herself. It means not only Friend of Police, but Friend of Poor- you could help or serve the underprivileged in some way you think is suitable or possible for you. You could give two hours of your week to teaching the underprivileged children. How is this connected with reducing crime ? The young ones as well as the older people in the slum would see that there are people out there with a heart who want to reach out to them. As Principal, Police Training College, I started a FOP mentoring program and 60 of the 240 cadets volunteered their spare time to teach the poor children in a nearby slum. I started the class by writing on a blackboard, " Knowledge is Power". I asked the gathered gleeful children to read the line. They read it as "K-now-ledge". I said," Yes it is actually K-now-ledge but that's the magic of the language that it has become 'Knowledge' with the K silent."

Page 142 solution

Some may aver that a FOP or a citizen volunteer cannot be an effective substitute for the inadequate manpower in police forces in India or world-wide. In actual point of fact, the citizen volunteer or FOP is a more effective substitute- mere increase in police strength does not have a corresponding effect on crime or disorder or terrorism. But when citizens anonymously get associated with the police, without ever being noticed, they can individually pass on accurate and timely intelligence to the police as it happened in the recent Times Square incident where a pavement vendor noticed some smoke in a SUV and intimated the police, averting a major terror incident in a crowded area. The police in existence in every state and nation should facilitate citizens to participate in policing as FOPs - they only need to play the role of facilitators and investigators in actual crimes reported.

One solution for two problems

Maoism and Terrorism are two of the greatest challenges facing the Indian state system. Both these are mind crimes in the sense that the perpetrators' minds are first penetrated by a political or religious ideology and their near absolute commitment secured for the cause. Hitherto disempowered people begin to feel a sense of power when they are coached and trained in using weapons and explosives. FOP is one unique solution for two related problems. It is a new thought process that will enable ordinary people to collaborate with the legitimate might of the state against opposing illegitimate forces. The concept is easily planted in the minds of people since it is easily understood and becomes immediately operational. An important aspect of the war against such anti-state forces is that Psy -war or operations is the most critical aspect. That is why Naxalites rely on occasional deadly strikes to drive a sense of terror and awe into the governmental machinery.

Global security

It is time for private and public security agencies to begin to actively collaborate in common pursuits. This morning's paper reports that a Bank's ATM guard in an isolated part of Chennai on the IT corridor was murdered and some three persons tried to break into the ATM locker but failed to get the cash. A couple of weeks ago, commotion at another ATM in a southern district of the state led to the guard opening fire leading to the killing of the Sub-Inspector of Police. Anticipating these problems in the month of December, 2009, while addressing a Global Security Conference in Delhi, I had empowered all 55 lakh or 5.5 million private security guards to become FOP ex officio. It was welcomed by all the leaders present including a former Home Minister, the current Mos Home and a host of other leaders of the private security industry as a move that will enable the private security guards to contribute to national security and to feel empowered to partner with the police in a role expected of any active enlightened citizen. The Minister of State for Home mentioned that it would cost the country upwards of Rupees Thirty five thousand crores to reach the international norm of one policeman for every five hundred citizens and he did not see it happening for a long time to come. That view also supported the need to engage the private security industry in nation building and nation securing activity.

Page 142 solution

Why doesn't he take a cue from my book on Proactive People Protection where I address the problem of inadequate manpower and resources stretched too thinly. Even in my presentation as part of the PM 's micromission on community policing I asserted that it will act as a force multiplier. To quote from page 142 of my book,'
" Seeing the work of the FOPs in Trichy, a senior IAS Officer (of Rajasthan cadre) told me," With the concept of FOP one can revolutionize the way the country and the world is policed." When I asked him how, he replied, " You can increase the strength of a police station from 30 to 40 or from 70 to 100, you can't increase it to 250 or 500, which can be easily achieved with the help of FOP." To further substantiate his view one Sub-Inspectorm, Jagadeswaran, whom I had mentored as an FOP trainee, raised a virtual army of more than 20,000 FOPs in the district of Villipuram. "
I had presented a copy of my book to him, the cost effective solution is staring him in the face on page 142- but are misguided seniors' counsel who do not want to adopt the idea since it is not theirs having a blinding effect?

The Problem

India's police ill-equipped, inadequate: Wed, Jun 2 03:35 PM
Raipur, June 2 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday admitted that the country has an ill-equipped police force that makes policing difficult in a country of over 1.1 billion people in a troubled neighbourhood.

'Policing a country of over 1.1 billion people is not an easy task. Policing a country in a troubled neighbourhood makes the task more difficult. And policing a country with insufficient police stations and inadequate and an ill-equipped police force makes the task almost formidable,' Chidambaram said in his inaugural speech at the 40th All India Police Science Congress here.

Pointing to the inadequate number of police personnel in the country, the home minister said there were 335,000 posts lying vacant.

'According to figures given to the central government, the total number of sanctioned posts as on March 31, 2010, in all ranks, is about 21 lakh. Of these, about 335,000 posts are vacant.

'Thus, the police-population ratio for the whole country is about 160 per 100,000 people. This ratio is much lower than the international norm...and conceals more than it reveals,' he said.

In Bihar, he said, the ratio is as low as 75, in Uttar Pradesh it is about 115, in Andhra Pradesh it is about 125, in Orissa about 135 and in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand - the two states most affected by leftwing extremism - the figure is 205.

'The first order of business is to enhance the capacity of training institutes in the states to at least double the present capacity and to recruit at least double the number of policemen and women every year,' Chidambaram said.

He added that most states barely have sufficient capacity to impart even basic training to new recruits.

The three-day congress will extensively discuss several issues, though terrorism and left-wing extremism will be the prime focus.

The event, organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, New Delhi, in association with the Chhattisgarh Police, will also discuss the modernisation of the police and the use of data-management in the system.

Page 142 solution

A Page 142 solution needs to be cost effective. FoP is a cost effective holistic solution to the shortages in police manpower and resources, to the gaps in intelligence, motivation and training that enables terrorists and Maoists to gain the upper hand. It wont cost much to conceptually empower all law abiding citizens of a country like India, an estimated 1.1 billion people to lend their moral, material and ground level support to the war being waged by the police and security forces against such nihilistic forces. All it will take is for the Prime Minister and Home Minister to use their access to the mass media to state the nation is going to employ the FOP strategy to take on all antinational forces.

The Naxalites are using a Hearts and Minds strategy to woo and win the alienated citizens to wage a war against the state system. Does the Government have a comparable Hearts and Minds strategy? No, it doesn't and that is where FOP will act as a social empowerment concept, a formula for sharing power and responsibility with the people. It will for one thing prevent or pre-empt more common citizens in affected areas to join the ranks of the naxalites and become canon fodder. It will transform the anti-establishment feeling and prevent the sense of alienation that vulnerable groups like tribals, Adivasis and others who form the "naxal hinterland" are prone to. The fact that they are affiliated with the principal organ for law and order maintenance in the state and country will give them that sense of empowerment.