Under the umbrella treaty of the IIM Indore with the Madhya Pradesh Police, the premium management institute is going to conduct 6-month research to improve the system of beat police here. As per reports, the research project will be spearheaded by IIM Director Professor Himanshu Rai to understand, analyse and recommend a framework that can reduce the shortcomings. The intervention has come in view of the rising cases of beat police brutality, laxity towards citizens as lodged by the National Crime Records Bureau.
Need to develop beat policing
In a bid to promote professionalism, development, better orderliness and a secure environment in public places, the IIM Indore and MP Police have set the ball rolling for ‘a mutual academic-practitioner collaboration system’. The first step on this route is to fix the beat police system, to ensure its practices are on par with its visionary on-paper theory.
While the necessity of a proper beat policing system was recognised in wake of the challenges faced during the community policing programmes, it is not correctly implemented in many states in India. The homogenous enforcement of this system can effectively strengthen both professional and community policing, read reports.
Police systems and patterns under research purview
Officials at IIM Indore and MP Police are set to finalise the specifications of the study on Thursday. The draft proposal presently binds the IIM to conduct fieldwork to identify the on-ground issues. Access to crime-related data has also been granted to the IIM to optimise the processes which are linked to beat policing.
The IIM Director stated that the team will engage in a system-level study of the current framework of beat policing in Indore. Different communication styles, behavioural patterns, interpersonal competencies and other values for effective police-community force will also be under the research purview.
Besides, a study on the multiple other factors, such as allocation of resources, efficacy and impact of the beat system, operational issues and application-based implication will also be conducted. Analysis of the existing organisation structure, deployment of officers to specific beats has further been listed under the proposal.
Further, the IIM professors will conduct structures to understand how the beat personnel maintains records, patrols around the area under his jurisdiction and keep coordination with the command centre, among others duties.
MP Police to review IIM Indore suggestions after 6 months
Beat Policing is the primary building block of law enforcement structures in Indore. The research will help identify the gaps in this ecosystem to ensure a sophisticated system of policing. The SP of Police Training College in Indore informed that the researchers would be provided with the logistics, basic data, access to crime scenes and crime data.
Post the 6 months study period, the IIM will compile a list of suggestions and recommendations to polish the policing system. The report that will be filed, will be reviewed by the Madhya Pradesh Police, for proper solutions.
