Dr Tiamenla Phom, NPS, explaining the different aspects of community policing during the sensitisation programme held at Indisen village on June 21. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 21
Stating that politicians spend an exorbitant amount of money during elections in Nagaland to win votes, Rothihu S Tetseo, IPS, Commissioner of Police, opined that voters demanding money from intending candidates should be considered as good as extortion. He explained further by taking a case in point where if two contesting candidates spend around Rs 20 crores each in a given constituency. “So if we multiply it by 60 constituencies, it comes to about Rs 2400 crores so this should be considered as good as extortion,” he said.
He said this during a one day sensitisation programme on ‘Community Policing,’ organised by the Dimapur Ao Youth Organisation (DAYO) along with the Commissionerate of Police, Dimapur at Indisen village on June 21.
The Commissioner was mentioning on the issue of extortion cases wherein he noted how it affects the law and order situation of the place. “If we seriously think about extortion, yes, there are some political groups or government department who do it, but another area is on extortion during election which is a serious issue which we have to handle,” he added.
In addition, he indicated how public support is crucial in eradicating extortion cases from Dimapur and encouraged organisations such as DAYO, having the man-power and resources, to continue working for the interests of the community as a whole.
Besides these points, Tetseo also appealed tribal organisations in the State to work for the common good of the people and not only for their respective tribal groups.
During the programme, Dr Tiamenla Phom, NPS gave a brief introduction on community policing wherein she said that in practical terms, “every citizen is a policemen without uniform and every policemen is a citizen in uniform.”
Furthermore, she informed how community and the police force are two sides of the same coin as, “without the police, community won’t exist and without the community there wouldn’t be any police.”
This state of inter-dependence is known as community policing, she stated.
Moreover, she described the dynamic nature of community policing which vary from one community to another based on different customs, culture, societal structure and traditions. She also mentioned how it also differs from the urban areas to the villages, particularly in Nagaland where the villages have forces such as the Village Guards (VGs) and the Village Councils.
“So it is an evolving trend which depends on a number of factors such as social and environmental aspects,” she remarked.
Distinction between community policing and vigilantism
On the area of legal provisions, she conveyed the duties and obligations of the community as a way towards maintaining law and order in an area. Such as Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 37 which talks about the duty of the public in assisting the police and the magistrate in preventing the escape of a suspected person involved in a crime.
Apart from these points, she explained how there needs to be a clear distinction between community policing and vigilantism or mob justice which can lead to negative outcomes if left unchecked. She therefore advised the gathering not to take law into their own hands as it could tarnish the image of the whole society or community as it occurred in the past.
Speaking on the sidelines, Imkongsungkem, Vice President, DAYO shared with The Morung Express that the objectives of the sensitisation programme was a way to help inform members of the organisation about the laws and procedures related to crime.
He mentioned that extortion has been a recurring menace in Dimapur which needed to be effectively dealt with and as such the organisation has put out a helpline number on social media for any person to lodge a complaint relating to such cases.
“Although this is particularly for the Ao community, we are also morally concerned about all the people,” he noted.
A technical session was later held during the programme wherein officials from Dimapur police discussed about various topics related to crime against women and children, traffic management, maintenance of law and order, prevention and detection of crime cyber security and how to approach a crime scene.
On the occasion, Rothihu Tetseo was honoured by members of DAYO for recently being conferred the Presidential Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
