CHAPTER IV

Principles and Promotional Strategies of Friends of

Police Movement

4.1 Genesis of FOP

4.2 Growth and Development of FOP
4.3 Goals/ Objectives of FOP

4.4 Trans local or transnational perspective of FOP

4.5 How does FOP work beyond Community Policing

4.6 Modalities of Enrolling an FOP

4.7 Method of Dissemination
4.8 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework of FOP concept

4.9 Checks and Balances to prevent misuse

4.10 Friends of Police Documentation and Multimedia
Training Center

4.11 Promotional Strategies of Friends of Police Movement

4.12 Principles of Friends of Police Movement

4.13 Activities in which Friends of Police are involved
4.14 Organizational Structure of the Friends of Police
personnel in Tamil Nadu

4.15 Benefits of FOP movement

4.16 Training of Friends Of Police and Police Personnel

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 CHAPTER IV

Principles and Promotional Strategies of

Friends of Police Movement

The public response io the police ranges from bystander apathy to open

hostility. The image of the police in the public mind is not just not positive or

neutral but it is highly negative. The police, also fails to distinguish between the

vast majority of law-abiding people and the comparatively smaller number of law

breakers who have to be dealt with an iron hand. The irony is that though the

police exist for the sake of the public, it works in a vacuum of a lack of goodwill,

lack of information and feedback and a general lack of co-operation. Hence

there is an urgent need the world over for aggressive "social marketing" of the

police. In this context, FOP as a strategy capitalizes on the positive aspect of the

brand image of the police.

The man donning the uniform is perceived as a corrupt, brutal person

given to frequent use of violence and torture. People are ready to believe the

worst when a policeman is involved in any misadventure. Every lapse is

attributed to "corruption". On the other hand, good work done by the police is

rarely noticed and still rarely appreciated. The FOP movement can to a large

extent correct this image of the policeman among the public. Prejudice is born

out of ignorance and to a large extent the police by keeping the public at an arms

length are responsible. For the way in which people are made aware of the

95
ground realities of police work, they will be more sympathetic and the tendency to

judge harshly will be reduced.

4.1 Genesis of FOP

Friends of Police, popularly known as FOP in Tamil Nadu, is a concept, a

brainchild of the author of this doctoral dissertation which developed into a mass

movement in the State of Tamil Nadu with more than 200,000 volunteers at

present. The author initiated this concept-based movement in 1993 in

Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu when he was serving as a

Superintendent of Police in that District. The nomenclature “Friends of Police”

is a very attractive, apt and useful terminology (Sharma, 2002).42 To cite the

view of a very distinguished police practitioner and former Delhi Police

commissioner, Mr. Vijay Karan during a panel discussion at the National Police

Academy, Hyderabad, “The very honorific FOP will tend to implant certain

psychological positive attitudes towards the police”.

The concept was bom in response to the quintessential question,” How do

we share police power and responsibility with the people? “ The answer to that

question was “ Friends of Police” instead of “Superintendent of Police,” a

veritable new designation that any citizen could aspire and apply for.

42
Shanna (2002) “Police Community Relations’ Sardar Vallabhai Patel, National Police
Academy, Vol.54, No. 1

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4.2 Growth and Development of FOP

India is a country with no dearth of human resources. Utilizing the vast

manpower resource as a base and the incipient desire in the average citizen to

serve the nation in some overt way, the author of this dissertation made an

appeal to the public through the mass media in Ramnad to volunteer for this

service as a Friend of Police. The name Friend coupled with police, almost a

contradiction in terms, held the promise of empowerment of disempowered

citizens vis-a-vis the police and attracted a large number of people from all walks

of life particularly the vouth to enroll as FOPs.

Recognizing the fact that the Government’s image is contingent and

sometimes even synonymous with the image of the police and that FOP

movement would enhance the image of the police and that of the Government,

the Government of Tamil Nadu passed a GO in 1994 extending the Friends of

Police movement to the whole State of Tamil Nadu. The first milestone was

crossed in the growth of the movement. What began as a movement in

community policing in one district had been extended to a whole state.

Subsequently, articles by the researcher sent globally to police practitioners,

leaders of community policing in other countries and to academics led to the

Friends of Police being accepted as the first and only international blueprint for

community policing by the Organisation of International Criminal Justice, USA.

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 The FOP movement gained momentum in Tamil Nadu with all the thirty

police districts and the six Commissionerates starting the FOP movement in the

respective jurisdictions. Over the past decade, the whole movement has grown to

a considerable size with membership ranging from more than thousand in some

districts to more than 20000 in some districts. Individually and collectively,

Friends of Police all over the state are contributing to improving the quality of

policing, reducing the fear of crime and in preventing crime.

Worldwide, curious observers began to study whether FOP is a workable

replicatable model. In September 2002, the movement got a further fillip with the

award of the inaugural prestigious Queen’s Award for innovation in Police

Training and Development out of Commonwealth-wide competition. A Friends of

Police Multimedia Training and Documentation Center was established in the

year 2003 thanks to the corpus fund of 15000 sterling pounds from the Queen’s

Award. An unique training module was evolved under the Queen’s Award Project

to enhance the police-public interface. Since the pilot project of training 20 police

personnel of various ranks and 20 FOPs in each of the nine police districts of

Chennai was successful, the training in the FOP methodology of community

policing was extended to all the districts and commissionerates from 2003.

Funding to the tune of Rupees Seventeen Lakhs was sanctioned for this purpose

from the State’s Exchequer. More than 28000 persons belonging to the police

force and the Friends of Police have benefited from training in community

98
policing evolved under the Queen’s Award Project from September 2003 to

March 2005.

The unique multimedia training approach of exposing both police

personnel and FOPs under a common roof to the attitudes, skills and knowledge

required for community policing had enhanced the police-public interface, broke

down mutual barriers, gave the FOPs confidence, improved the morale of the

police personnel and reinforced mutual belief in the efficacy. Multimedia training

had emerged as a major promotional strategy of the Friends of Police Movement

that distinguishes it from other similar experiments in community policing acrooS

the globe.

4.3 Goals/Objectives of FOP movement

• To remove the prejudice that the public have towards the police, by making

them understand the realities of police work

• To promote crime awareness among the public and to motivate them to assist

the police in crime prevention activities.

• To inform the public that the FOP as a movement is a method of sharing

policing power and responsibilities with the public.

• To act as a force multiplier by involving the FOPs in community policing. With

the existing low police-public ratio Cops along with FOPs can prevent and

deter crimes.

• To evolve a mechanism to get management feedback.

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• To enable the police to prevent commission of criminal offences.

In a nutshell, the essence of this movement is to empower individuals willing

to identify themselves with the police in such a way as to foster and crystallize

the hither-to untapped sentiments of goodwill for the police that exist among the

general public. It was expected that the movement would go a long way to

transform the police image, open up channels of communication and provide a

reservoir of goodwill, feedback, intelligence and manpower (Philip, 1996)43

4.4 Trans local or transnational perspective of FOP concept

Another distinctive lecture of the FOP concept is that the span of vision in

POP or the circle of concern is global while the circle of influence is the local

police station limits based on the maxim, “Think globally, act locally”. It goes far

beyond the localized concern of other community policing models like

neighbourhood watch or Area committee approach even though it starts with a

focus on local problems. Hence, FOP takes on added relevance in this era of

international terrorism, cyber crime et al., where a problem may start at a very

local level but have international or global ramifications. When the movement

was first started in Ramnad district letters started coming in from different parts of

the state and the country asking for a similar opportunity to be given to them to

serve society. This demonstrated the trans local relevance of the movement and

43
Philip, V Prateep, ‘Policing in Central and Eastern Europe': Comparing
Firsthand Knowledge with Experience from the West, © 1996 College of Police
and Security Studies, Slovenia.

100
fuelled the conviction that “ if FOP could work in Ramnad, it could work in any

part of the country, if not the world.” Consequently, the concept and movement

attracted the attention of overseas agencies. Two high level delegations of

Nairobi Central Business District Association, Kenya visited Tamil Nadu to study

the concept, movement and its applicability to the Kenyan situation. It also went

on to win the Queen’s Award for Innovation in Police Training and Development,

2002.

4.5 How does FOP work beyond Community Policing?

How does FOP work beyond Community Policing?

CP FOP

Community Problem Comnunity Problem Enhance

participation solving participation solving quality of life

I 1
Crime Reduce Reduce Social Empowerment
Re vention fear of fear of issues ofPolice
Crime Police of Rib lie

B nd ge -Build mg
(FOPs)

Clime Prevention

Unlike other community policing experiments and initiatives in India or

elsewhere, the path of empowerment and involvement is first, the individual

volunteer or FOP; then , the group of FOPs acting in each area in coordination

with the local police. In other schemes like Neighbourhood Watch or Maithri for

101
instance, the unit of empowerment and involvement is straightaway a group

affiliation of local residents.

Though crime prevention in association with the police personnel forms a

primary duty of an FOP, the close knit association with the police reduces the

fear of crime and the fear of police. It also gives a clearer picture of social issues

in front of them facilitating and sharpening their problem solving skills.

Empowerment to function in this manner enhances their problem solving and

leadership capacity resulting in human resource development. Thus, the FOPs

build stronger bridges linking the community they live and the police force with

crime prevention as a byproduct.

Though FOP as a concept emerges from the matrix of the philosophy of

community policing, it goes beyond the spectrum of community policing.

Community Policing in one sense implies,’’Community Police Thyself, since we

can’t” and thereby creates greater distance between the police and the

community. Friends of Police brings about greater integration between the police

and the community.

4.6 . Modalities of enrolling an FOP

Every FOP shall be a citizen and a resident in the district in which he

applies for “Friendship” of police.

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 He/she shall not be involved in any civil or criminal case - this is to ensure

that the prospective FOP has no axe to grind with the police.

No educational qualification or employment is prescribed but he/she shall

be preferably literate to enable written communications.

Age: minimum age of 18 and maximum of 70.

In short, any member of the public who is not involved in any civil or

criminal case and not a member of a political party can become a “FOP”.

An analysis of the rationale behind the entry level criteria prescribed for

membership:

The low level of entry barriers for the average citizen to become a FOP

made the movement broad-based and democratic. It makes the police accessible

to all sections of society and all classes of people. The broad band of the age

spectrum from which FOPs can join makes available a pool of youth power

combined with the leadership of middle-aged volunteers and the experience and

wisdom of senior citizens. The absence of nomination or selection of FOP

members by the police ensures that the FOP movement does not get packed

with only those favoured by the police. The restriction on the entry of members

of political parties ensures that the movement does not get politicized and

polarized as it has happened in some community policing experiments. This

103
criterion has ensured the survival of the movement despite the changing

vicissitudes and political complexion of the State Government.

The criterion that the FOP should not be involved in any criminal or civil

case has ensured the purity and credibility of the movement while pre-empting

any individual member from using the new-found influence with the police to

grind their own axe. No limit is placed on the duration of membership, rather the

membership is lifelong unlike the membership duration in schemes like the Maitri

Committees of Andhra Pradesh. Unlike other group affiliation models, there is no

limit on the number of FOPs who can join in any unit, the idea being, the more,

the safer, if not the merrier.

4.7 Method of Dissemination

The appeal to the public to apply is made through the local press to join as

FOP. The member of the public willing to become a FOP will state in his/her

application form his/her name, age, occupation and the capacity in which he

wishes to assist the police (crime prevention, anti-vice campaign, victim

assistance, information, night beat, patrolling, traffic assistance). Apart from

enlisting the mass media as partners in disseminating the FOP concept, the FOP

website and other accredited home pages on the world wide web (Internet) is

employed to propagate the FOP message.

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 FOP leverages on the ability of the media to influence the public mind.

Though conventionally, the media focuses on negative news about the police,

the police uses the media as an ally in creating awareness about the FOP

concept and movement.

4.8 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework of FOP concept

As the World Summit on Social Development, 1992 put it, “The best

investments in social and economic development are on those strategies that

empowers the individual.” The Unique Selling Proposition of FOP as a social

marketing concept for the police organization is that it is virtually the only model

of community policing globally that empowers an individual to enroll as an FOP

and enter into a problem-solving partnership with the police. Other community

policing models largely empowers aggregates or groups of people. A spin off

benefit is that it thereby, reduces public apathy, if not hostility towards the police

and it enables some members to be whistle-blowers rather than remain silent

spectators in an incidence of crime.

In its philosophical dimension, the FOP concept goes beyond existing

community policing philosophy. It is based on the philosophy of true friendship.

The focus is not on the mutual benefits for the police and the people but on

building a relationship. It is not based on the utilitarian concept of quid pro quo.

Friends of Police are not mere agents of the police or mercenary informers to be

used as tools and then cast away but they are to be respected as equal partners.

105
Even if a FOP does nothing for the police, he still remains a FOP. Any service

he does is out of his own volition and flows incidentally from the relationship.

Friends of Police are not mere substitutes for policemen. They are integrated

with the police system but are not to taken as identical with the police.

Any function or role that any enlightened citizen is expected to perform,

as per the law of the land is the role of the FOP. The FOPs are not to act as

vigilantist squads taking the law into their own hands. The silent but enabling

provisions of the law, namely provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code

providing for citizen’s right to arrest and making it incumbent on the citizen to

prevent the commission of a cognizable ofence or to pre-empt a breach of

peace, not to give shelter or assistance to a proclaimed offender and to assist the

police and the magistrate to maintain peace and order, together constitute the

legal basis of the FOP movement FOP movement does not advocate an

abandonment of traditional policing concerns and methods but adds value and

efficacy to these methods. It creates change within the system without making

out a case for throwing the baby (traditional methods) out with the bathwater. It

balances the priority of the Government, namely, order maintenance with service

and sensitivity to the public need for safety services.

The psychological aspect of the FOP concept is that it is based on an

understanding of the power syndrome thesis. The power syndrome thesis

implies that if the “power-haves”(the police) do not share power with the people

106
(the popular sovereign from whom they derive power) the police are disliked, if

not hated. Conversely, if the “power-haves” share power with the people they

serve, the police are liked, if not loved. Besides, the mystique of the police

attracts people to associate it if they are given an opportunity to partnership with

the police based on the dictum, "If you can’t beat them, join them.” From the

individual citizen’s point of view, volunteering to become a FOP meets at least

partially his self-esteem need to be recognized in society and his self

actualization need to serve society with reference to Maslow’ s hierarchy of

needs. FOP as a concept helps to sublimate the “inner policeman” which exists

in every human behg.

The sociological dimension of FOP is that as society or the community

consists not of one homogeneous whole but a congeries of communities, there

exists a need to build bridges not just with society as a whole but there is a need

to build bridges within each of the communities that comprise society. Since

FOP is based on individual empowerment, individuals from each sub-community

first volunteer and then by the word-of-mouth propaganda it begins to snowball

and scores of individuals from each sub-community then enroll themselves.

Though it is based on individual empowerment, it is called a movement because

it invokes the power of the masses. Indeed, as the Latin saying goes, “vox populi,

vox Dei”(The voice of the people is the voice of God). The depth of vision and the

magnitude of the mass appeal with virtually no restriction on membership justify it

being called a movement.

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 The ethical aspect of FOP is reflected in the etymology of the word friend,

the root of which is the Latin word ‘phile’ which means love. It implies an implicit

respect for the corporate ethics of policing, namely, a iespect for order and

discipline, obedience, a desire to know the truth, integrity, a desire for service, an

ability to handle authority with a sense of humility, a capacity to handle people

with both politeness and firmness, physical bravery coupled with moral courage,

a passion for justice and empathy with the weak or disadvantaged.

The criminological basis of FOP is the belief that less than one per cent of

any society is involved in crime or have a tendency to get involved in crime. FOP

therefore advocates that police that constitutes less than 0.1 per cent of society

forge a strategic alliance with the 99 per cent law abiding citizens to isolate and

deal with the less than one per cent crimogenic element.

The management aspect of FOP as a concept is that it seeks to leverage

on the brand image of the police. It also offers a non-political channel of

empowerment. The brand image of the police draws its strength from the fact

that the police constitutes the most manifest arm of governmental power and

people would therefore, like to associate with it in non-threatening and

empowering contexts. The concept is gaining wide acceptance that the police

are not mere agents of the Government or creatures of law who are to react to

emergent situations but the police are, primarily, agents or catalysts of social

108
change. It is the responsibility of the Police, as the agents of social change, to

grab the initiative and start or facilitate the process of change management.

Equality, liberty and fraternity are the three political ideals on which

democracy is rooted. Equality and liberty are largely realized in representative

democracy but the ideal of fraternity or a sense of community remains inchoate

and unrealized. The concept of “Friend of.” creates a fraternal link between a

public service agency like the police and the constituency they serve, namely, the

general public. “Friendship is a powerful universal re’ationship, the police, a

powerful universal institution, coupled together, they produce a tremendous

synergy, empowering people and enabling the police to fulfill their part of the

social contract to secure a safe and just social order.” ( Philip, 1996)

In short, FOP as an interdisciplinary, multidimensional concept and

philosophy contains within it certain elements of idealism and pragmatism in a

judicious mix. It is a “shorthand expression” that can be easily understood both

by the average policeman and by the average citizen and hence, it is much

easier to translate it into a ground level reality. FOP integrates police with the

people and closes the socio-psychological distance between the two. It can be

seen from the above discussion that the ideological basis of FOP goes beyond

the more limited theoretical underpinnings of community policing, namely, social

control theory, communication theory, anomie, pubic policy. Indeed as Harlan

Cleveland put it,” For the 90s and beyond, Public Administration will be the art of

109
making creative interconnections for ultimately, all real world problems are

international, interdisciplinary and interprofessional.”

4.9 Checks and balances to prevent misuse

When the police personnel and the Friends of Police work together, the

presence of FOPs will act as a check on the misuse of power by police

personnel. There will also be a moral constraint for a policeman to derelict from

his duty in the presence of an FOP. FOPs also act as a check on each other

since a report of misuse or misbehaviour by any individual FOP by a fellow FOP

could lead to summary removal of a FOP by the police officer concerned, as it

has happened in a few cases. Another method of preventing misuse and

vigilantism by individual FOPs is an elaborate Dos and Don’ts list that is used to

educate the volunteers on what they can and should do and what they should not

do.

4.10 Friends of Police Documentation and Multimedia Training center

In July 1994, the Tamil Nadu Government recognizing the importance of

promoting the police-public interface had extended the experiment of Friends of

Police Movement to the whole state. In July, 2002, the movement won

international recognition with the award of the inaugural prestigious Queen’s

Award for Innovation in Police Training and Development out of Commonwealth­

wide competition. A Friends of Police Multimedia Training and

Documentation Center was established in the year 2003 thanks to the corpus

110
fund of 15000 sterling pounds from the Queen’s Award. An unique training

module was evolved under the Queen’s Award Project to enhance the police­

public interface. Since the pilot project of training 20 police personnel of various

ranks and 20 FOPs in each of the nine police districts of Chennai was

successful, the training in the FOP methodology of community policing was

extended to all the districts and commissionerates from 2003. Funding to the

tune of Rupees Seventeen Lakhs was sanctioned for this purpose from the

State’s Exchequer. More than 28000 persons belonging to the police force and

the Friends of Police have benefited from training in community policing evolved

under the Queen’s Award Project from September 2003 to March 2005. The

FOP multimedia center is now recognized as a Citizens Community Policing

Academy.

The unique multimedia training approach of exposing both police

personnel and FOPs under a common roof to the attitudes, skills and knowledge

required for community policing had enhanced the police-public interface, broke

down mutual barriers between members of different communities as well as

between the police and the public, gave the FOPs confidence, improved the

morale of the police personnel and equipped the police and the public to work for

communal harmony. The training taught them problem-solving skills to be

employed to nip communal problems in the bud before they reach a flash point

and built bridges of communal harmony between different sections of society, of

both caste, class and creed.

Ill
4.11 Promotional Strategies of Friends of Police Movement

a) Logo and Mission Statement

In order to build a FOP brand image and leverage on its brand power, a

distinct logo, and mission statement were designed and publicized by affixing it at

the appropriate places on FOP related literature.

The Logo of the Friends of Police is given below. The interpretation for

the Logo is as follows: The circle at the bottom of the Logo symbolizes a Globe

based on the precept, “Think globally, act locally”, the symbol of a dove flying at

the bottom of the logo symbolizes peace, the cap stating FOP , the stripes and

the star stands for police emblems of power. The implication is that the ideals of

peace and service should form the basis of the exercise of police power.

The Mission Statement of the Friends of Police is “Connecting the

Police and the People at their best”. The mission statement emphasizes

112
individual empowerment of the police personnel as well as the Friends of police

in this collaborative partnership.

Another element in the strategy to promote the FOP philosophy and

practice is woven into the Citizens Charter of the Police Department which

was drafted by this researcher and approved by the Government for circulation to

all police personnel and among members of the public. The Citizens Charter

underlines the need for police personnel to behave as Friends of Public in order

to woo and win members of the public as Friends of Police.

b) Mass campaigns - Cycle Rallies

c) Mobilization drives

d) Sports competitions

e) Essay competitions

f) Medical Camps

g) Rehabilitation

h) Victim assistance

i) Award of Certificates

j) Organising workshops and seminars on community policing

k) Constant Counseling and Monitoring

I) Documentary Film

The documentary film, which is a promotional film for Friends of Police,

was screened in more than 350 workshops conducted so far in the past two

years.

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m) Propaganda through local Television and cable networks

n) Media coverage of the workshops conducted and other FOP events

4.12 Principles of FOP Movement

The underlying principles of the FOP movement can be summed up in the

acronym BEST expanded below:

B- Bridge Building between the police and the Public.

E- Empowerment of police and willing members of the public (FOP).

S- Service Commitment of police and members of public (FOP)

T- Transparency in working among the police and the public.

When a survey was conducted among FOP volunteers from different parts

of Ramnad district as to what motivated them to join FOP, one young fisherman

summed up the bridge-building concept cryptically, saying, “ I wish to be a bridge

between the police and the public.”

When an Additional Director General of Police of West Bengal , who had

come to study the FOP Movement, queried an FOP of Chennai, as to how he

felt about working in the FOP movement, he said that as an individual he was

helpless when he saw a few locals turning to naxalites for support owing to

114
various reasons. Now as an FOP being backed by an NGO he says that he is

empowered enough to tackle the naxalites and set his path right with the

confidence that he has gained being a part of the movement. He also feels that

the naxals will pay heed to him not as an individual but as part of a NGO. This is

the kind of empowerment that FOP produces in an individual.

With regard to the service commitment, the FOPs in addition to assisting

the police force are more aware of the social evils that exist in the society and try

to do something about it. For example, FOPs of Ramnad district attempted to

eradicate child labour in an innovative manner. They traced children engaged in

tea shops, took those children to schools, began taking care of their education,

and at the same time engaged others to work in the tea shops. This is the kind

of service commitment that the FOPs have. Many policemen who have utilized

the services of FOPs have often been commenting that a biome guard will stay

on only till a particular time for which he receives an allowance. It is not possible

to retain them for more time even when their services are required for some

duty. FOPs on the other hand willingly serve for a longer period even though

they are not paid and their services are purely voluntary. That is the service

commitment an FOP has.

There is a certain amount of transparency in the working style of both the

FOPs and the police officers when they work together. Necessary information is

Shared with the FOPs. The police also consult and take suggestions on local

Broblem-solving from the FOPs

115
 Friends of Police provide a solution to the widening gap between the

police and the public by acting as ambassadors of the police while living among

the public and as representatives of the public while serving with the police.

I ney thereby, create a two-way communication channel to convey feedback on

mutual perceptions, acceptance or rejection as the case may be. Such feedback

would serve to shape police policy and action such that it would better meet or

fulfill the public expectation.

Role of Women in Friends of Police

FOP is also a strategy for empowerment of women, particularly to fight

crimes against women. Women volunteers of Friends of Police, too work as

enthusiastically and effectively as men. Women mostly from middle age and

college going girls serve as Friends of Police. To illustrate with a case study of a

true happening: Poovarasankuppam Village of V:llupuram district of Tamil Nadu

has a temple that generates a lot of revenue but is also afflicted by disorder

problems and even stabbings during the annual festival. But once Women FOPs

took charge of the security of the temple premises not a single incident or

controversy was reported in this village. The women FOPs regulate queues, man

the gates, watch for crisis situations and are proactive in maintaining safety of the

temple.

Women Friends of Police associate themselves with jobs in policing more

soft in nature such as temple bandobust, counseling, watch and ward service

116
during day time, traffic regulation, queue regulation, giving information on

domestic crimes, eve-teasing and so on.

4.13 Activities in which Friends of Police are involved

Friends of Police work along with the police personnel in collaborative

partnerships. They assist the police force in all possible ways to prevent and

control crime. They are mostly associated with night patrolling by many though

patrolling is only a part of FOP activity. Thus, Night patrolling, Traffic regulation,

Vehicle Check, Raids, Information on crime and untoward incidents in the area,

Temple Bandobust and other Crime prevention activities, Crime awareness

camps are some of the main activities of the Friends of police. Besides they are

also involved in social service activities such as organizing blood donation

camps, eye donation camps, pulse polio awareness camps are a few to mention.

As per the charter of activities of the FOP movement these are the activities that

Friends of Police are involved in:

1. Crime Prevention.

2. Crime Awareness Campaign.

3. T raffic Assistance.

4. Traffic Awareness.

5. Night Rounds in their locality.

6. Prohibition information.

7. Human Rights Awareness Campaign.

8. Rights of Women Awareness Campaign.

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 9. Anti-Narcotics Campaign.

10. Anti-Immorality Campaign including AIDS Awareness Programme.

11. Matrimonial Disputes Intervention and Counseling.

12. Victim Assistance Programme.

13. Police-Public Sports Programme.

14. Prisoner’s Rehabilitation and Prohibition Offenders Rehabilitation.

15. Campaign for Rights of Deprived and Weaker Sections of Society.

16. Environmental Protection Programme.

17. Campaign to foster and promote Communal harmony.

18. Any other Programme or Activity.

The activities are broad-based and flexible and leaves scope for further

innovation should some FOPs want to add any other activity or programme in

FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOP FOPFOP FOI
*
# - SLCO - Station Level Coordinator

H8
 The Organizational structure of the Friends of Police hierarchy, though it

looks like a police hierarchy allows the grass root level volunteer to have a direct

contact whenever required with the higher echelons of the police . Besides

Friends of Police volunteers belong to all walks of life, diversified according to

economic status, age, sex, education and occupation but with a common goal of

assisting the police force and thereby serving society. This diversity is a positive

side effect born out of this movement.

Human diversity is promoted not because it is politically correc*, not

because it looks good, not to satisfy any minority constituency, it is promoted

because it is the right thing to do. Any organization made up of a diverse group

of individuals will make better decisions and therefore will become a more

effective organization. Hence diversity is good business in law enforcement and

other industries.

Unlike other community policing initiatives wherein the responsibility for

innovation, implementation and supervision lies with the police personnel, the

Friends of Police work with greater autonomy such that they come out with

innovative and creative ideas on their own for crime prevention. This kind of

autonomy not only fosters participative policing but also gives ideas for better

quality policing. To take the case study from the experience of this researcher, a

FOP and a member of the minority community gave an extremely useful

suggestion to resort to barricading for the security arrangements during a very

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tense communal situation in Keelakarai in Ramnad district in 1994. This

suggestion, which did not emanate from any police source but from a FOP

contributed in facilitating the peaceful conduct of a religious procession through

Keelakarai. Information given by another FOP from quite another area that an

antisocial element had purchased explosives to disrupt the procession led to the

latter’s arrest and pre-empted a major law and order situation and a communal

conflagration.

4.15 Benefits of FOP movement

• Performance Enhancement

Truly, Together everyone achieves more(The TEAM principle) and

FOP contributes to enhancing the performance of the police of their

normal duties of preventing and detecting crime and of maintaining

law and order.

• Image Enhancement

The negative image of the police personnel and the resultant lack

of basic trust of the police arise due to predominantly a distorted

portrayal of the police by the mass media. The FOPs since they

work along with the police personnel are able to empathize with the

police. The FOPs would act as ambassadors of goodwill for the

police among the general public.

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• Crime Control

One of the major roles of FOPs is that of assisting in crime control

and crime prevention.

• Force Multiplier

It may not be possible to increase the strength of the police force in

proportion with the growing population. However it is possible to

increase the strength of the FOPs who would act as the “eyes and

ears of the police”. Thus FOPs serve as force multipliers. The

Tamil Nadu Special Task Force in pursuit of the elusive forest

brigand Veerappan used the “Hearts and Minds Strategy”

underlying FOP concept and movement to successfully wean away

the brigand’s support base among tribals and ultimately, hunted

him down.

• Multimedia Training

One of the major promotional strategies of the FOP movement is

multimedia training imparted to FOPs. Training enhances one’s

skills, such as leadership skills, communication skills, listening

skills, team building skills and so on and also creates attitudinal

changes which are part of the learning-unlearning process to

change the mindset and mutual perceptions of both the police and

the public.

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• Morale Booster for the Police

The fact that two to three FOPs accompany a policeman during a

night patrol will give him a confidence that he is not alone. This

would be a morale booster for the policeman.

• A Method of Tapping the Resources and Goodwill of the Public

The more the number of the Friends of Police, the more the

goodwill and an enlightened citizenry. Hence the FOPs are an

important source of tapping the goodwill and resources of the

public. A voluntary victim assistance scheme by FOPs in

Dharmapuri in 1995 led to the State Government setting up a

corpus fund

• Causes positive Changes in Thinking and Behaviour of Police

Personnel

Associating with law-abiding citizens would have a salutary if not

therapeutic effect on the normally socially isolated police personnel.

• Feedback Mechanism

A superior police officer might get an accurate feedback about the

performance of a subordinate policeman through an FOP and a

subordinate can give accurate information about an FOP. Hence

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 FOP movement serves as a feedback mechanism for its own

functioning.

4.16 Training of Friends Of Police and Police Personnel

One most important promotional strategy used for developing the Friends

of police movement in the State of Tamil Nadu is training. For instance, many

police personnel had a fear that by enrolling FOPs they may have additional

burden and responsibility. Training removes all such inhibitions and illfounded

reservations.

Community policing is about creating problem solving partnership between

the police and the people. But to build a bridge of mutual understanding and to

foster partnership there is an urgent need for building material namely, training

which will transform the police personnel into Friends of Public and convert

members of the public into Friends of Police. The FOP multimedia training

evolved under the Queen’s Award Project helps to change mindsets of both the

police and the public.

Training Objective

• To bring police and public close.

• To work cohesively towards crime prevention.

• To work cohesively towards combating community problems.

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Training Methodology

A combination of traditional and modern methods was used for training the

Friends of police and Police officers together through Multimedia training

methods. Lectures are the most common practice. However, other methods like

Games, Role-plays, Case studies, incident process and sensitivity training are

imparted.

Audio-Visual aids are an integral part of learning in the classroom.

Videotapes are a common technique for police community relations training. Clip

Charts, Posters, slides and tape recorders are some other aids. Literature is also

frequently distributed and serves the useful purpose of providing background

information.

The Sample

Under the pilot project, 100 members of the public who were willing and

able to be FOP Coordinators were drawn from each police station jurisdiction of

Chennai and its suburbs and identified. They, along with 16 selected Police

officers (two per station were trained in attitude development and behaviour

modification through Equilibrium Thinking, Skill development through NLP (Neuro

Linguistic Programming) and knowledge of community policing and crime

prevention strategy besides working knowledge about Role of Friends of police

in crime prevention and control.

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 On the whole, five hundred and sixteen participants from both the police

force and friends of police served as sample for the pilot project. 11 FOP

multimedia training workshops were conducted for these participants in the

course of the project year, 2002-2003.

Sample selection

The sample for the present project was selected through the method of

namely, random sampling from the nine police districts of Chennai District. The

sample for the police force was selected through random sampling from the

police records with the help of the Deputy commissioners of the respective

districts. The sample for the FOPs was selected through the method of random

sampling from the register of the friends of police with the help of the Assistant

commissioners of police from the respective districts.

The position of the police officers ranked from constables to assistant

commissioners and the occupation of the FOPs ranged from daily labourers to

professionals such as advocates, doctorates and engineers. The age range of

the sample for the FOPs ranged from eighteen years to sixty five years.

Method

As the preliminary stage, the selected sample was scrutinized by the

project coordinators to confirm the criteria of selection to the FOP movement. A

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Pilot study was conducted with forty-five trainees both from the police side and

the FOP side.

As the pilot study was found to be successful, and taking into

consideration the feedback of the participants of the pilot project, some changes

were made in the presentation and the main study was conducted.

The curriculum for the training included audio presentation of equilibrium

thinking, power point presentation of community policing concepts, friends of

police, development of communication skills, listening skills, team building skills

and perceptual positions through Neuro linguistic programming. The curriculum

for the training was presented through power point presentations, lectures, audio­

visual presentations, case study, group discussions and role-play techniques,

exercises and games.

Pre-assessment and post assessment

A questionnaire on pre-assessment was given to all the trainees before

the training programme, to assess their knowledge about the activities of FOP

and post assessment questionnaire was given to get the feedback of the trainees

regarding the training programme.

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Follow up assessment

A questionnaire was given to all the trainees regarding their involvement

and achievements over a period of two weeks, four weeks, six weeks and so on.

The trainees were requested to either send the questionnaire through mail or e-

mail.

Impact on the police personnel

Gist of some reactions on Impact of training from police personnel

• I can fee' the change in the mindset of the administrators on sharing

power and transparency.

• Sharing the work'oad decreases the stress and empowers the police

force.

• Training should be given at the Station level.

• Training makes officers aware of the concept and guides them to perform

well.

Impact on FOPs

Gist of some reactions on Impact of training from Friends of Police

• The training, first of its kind for the FOPs succeeded in bringing about an

attitudinal change, improvement in soft skills and leadership qualities that

will enhance their performance in future. 90% of FOPs are excited about

the programme and are happy to participate.

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 • Lot of members of the public have joined as Friends of Police after the

training programme

• Enhances the power of FOPs and facilitates service to the society

Since the pilot project was successful, the State Government extended the

training to the entire state. Five workshops are conducted every year in each of

the 30 districts and six commissionerates of the state. The training was imparted,

during 2003 to March 2005, to a total of nearly thirty thousand personnel of

which approximately fifteen thousand were police personnel and approximately

5fteen thousand were Friends of Ppolice. The feedback of the training as

revealed in the bar graphs below indicates its efficacy. Trainees perception of the

utility of the training programme show the extent to which they were aware of the

training inputs in the pre-assessment and the impact of training in the post­

assessment. A majority of both the FOPs and the police personnel found the

training programme ranging from very good to excellent.

Table 4.1

‘The following tables are all in terms of percentages

PRE-ASSESSMENT OF FOP - 2003-2004

CP EQ TB PS
FOP Fully aware 60 5 35 70
FOP aware - some extent 30 25 45 20
FOP - not aware 10 70 20 10

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 PRE-ASSESSMENT OF FOP - 2003-2004

PRE-ASSESSMENT OF POLICE - 2003-2004

CP EQ TB PS
Police fully aware 80 0 10 70
Police aware - some extent 20 40 75 18
Police - not aware 0 60 15 12

PRE-ASSESSMENT OF POLICE - 2003-2004

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 POST-ASSESSMENT OF FOP & POLICE - 2003-2004

Not upto
Excellent V.Good Good
mark
FOP 62 38 3 0

Police 50 38 11 1

POST - ASSESSMENT OF FOP & POLICE - 2003-2004

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 Table 4.2

PRE ASSESSMENT - POLICE - 2004-2005

FOP fully FOP aware - some

FOP - not aware
aware extent

CP 80 20 0
EQ 0 40 60
TB 10 75 15
PS 70 18 12

PRE ASSESSMENT - POLICE

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

□ FOP fully aware

■ FOP aware - some extent
□ FOP - not aware

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 Post Assessment of Police & FOP - 2004-2005

Not upto
Excellent V.Good Good
mark
FOP 62 35 3 0
Police 50 38 11 1

POST ASSESSMENT

In both the years since the FOP multimedia training was commenced, it

can be seen from the tables and graphs above that the level of awareness -about

community policing per se among both police personnel and FOP at the pre­

assessment level itself, that is before the training was imparted, is quite high.

The post assessment by both FOPs and the police personnel in both the years

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 Post Assessment of Police & FOP - 2004-2005

Not upto
Excellent V.Good Good
mark
FOP 62 35 3 0
Police 50 38 11 1

POST ASSESSMENT

In both the years since the FOP multimedia training was commenced, it

can be seen from the tables and graphs above that the level of awareness«bout

community policing per se among both police personnel and FOP at the pre­

assessment level itself, that is before the training was imparted, is quite high.

The post assessment by both FOPs and the police personnel in both the years

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 PRE ASSESSMENT-FOP -2004-2005

FOP aware - some

FOP fully aware FOP - not aware
extent

CP 60 30 10
EQ 5 25 70
TB 35 45 20
PS 70 20 10

PRE ASSESSMENT-FOP

“CP” Stands for Community Policing

“EQ” Stands for Equilibrium Thinking
“TE” Stands for Team Building skills
“PS” Stands for Problem Solving skills

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shows that the feedback for the multimedia training imparted ranges mostly from

Very Good to Excellent.

Other promotional strategies employed to enhance the levels of

awareness, acceptance and involvement of all stakeholders were mass rallies,

processions, cycle rallies, swimming and sports competitions, boating

competitions, essay contests, medical camps, rehabilitation services, victim

assistance programmes, publ'c grievance redressal boxes, award of certificates

and Identity cards to those FOP leaders who had a proven track record of

service, the production and screening of a documentary film on the Friends of

Police movement, publication of booklets that were sent to all district chiefs of

police in the country and articles in leading newspapers as well as in national

and international journals, presentations in National and International workshops

on community policing, not to mention the popularization of the Friends of Police

website (www.friendsofpolice.org ). While the police bureaucracy, specifically the

Police Chief of the state did not deprecate the idea and in fact appreciated it,

exhorting other Superintendents of Police to follow suit with similar experiments,

it was in fact the direct appeal in a State level conference to the Political

Executive that led to the Friends of Police concept being extended to the entire

state.

The organic inherent strength of the seminal idea or seed of FOP

combined with the formation of a core group of administrators and trainers to

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nurture it as well as the promotional strategies mentioned above led to the FOP

movement being sustained over more than a decade. Unlike other experiments

in community policing that perished with time or with the animator of the

movement, usually a police officer, being transferred out of the geographical

area, Friends of Police sustained itself and integrated itself into the rubric of

policing.

*««»*«»

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