Friends of Police: a community policing initiative that was shut down in Tamil Nadu after Sattankulam custodial deaths

It was successful 1993 that the past Superintendent of Police, Ramanathapuram, Pradeep V. Philip launched the ‘Friends of Police’ (FOP) inaugural with a tiny radical of volunteers. The determination was to span the spread betwixt the constabulary and nationalist by allowing section younker to enactment successful basal policing. The FOP volunteers readily agreed to enactment with and for the constabulary successful guarding the shores of Ramanathapuram district. Thus came into beingness an innovative assemblage policing mechanics – ‘Friends of Police’.

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A twelvemonth later, the past Director General of Police (DGP) S. Sripal commended the enactment of ‘Friends of Police’ and recommended instauration of the voluntary question successful different districts. It was lone a substance of clip aft that. FOP teams were formed successful cities and districts. Thousands of younker volunteered to articulation the question implicit the years and the ‘Friends of Police’ inaugural that ever functioned nether the nonstop supervision of the police, emerged arsenic an indispensable constituent of nighttime patrolling and conveyance checks crossed Tamil Nadu.

Commissioners/Superintendents of Police were empowered to induct volunteers seeking to enactment arsenic FOP. After a basal verification of their antecedents, they were imparted basal grooming connected dealing with the public. Being a voluntary service, determination was nary remuneration and immoderate perks.

Intelligence gathering

For the Tamil Nadu police, the ‘Friends of Police’ was not lone seen arsenic further manpower but a strategy to heighten the representation of the constabulary force, unfastened up channels of connection and supply a reservoir of goodwill. The volunteers aboriginal went connected to enactment with the constabulary for postulation regulation, assemblage absorption duties astatine temple festivals and astir importantly, they played a important relation successful gathering quality astatine the grassroots level connected the question of strangers, particularly overseas nationals, smugglers and extremists, and alert the constabulary connected immoderate grouping of radical successful pursuance of immoderate unlawful enactment successful their respective jurisdictions.

Explaining the basal objectives of ‘Friends of Police’, Mr. Philip wrote successful an nonfiction that the police, each implicit the world, were isolated from friends and foes alike. The constabulary unit successful each federation suffers from a occupation of not conscionable a ‘no image’ oregon ‘low image’ but highly ‘negative image’.

The wide content was that the constabulary was a blunt instrumentality to enactment according to the whims and fancies of the powers-that-be. Complaints of torture and custodial unit had further accentuated the antagonistic image. An ambiance of deficiency of trust, respect and assurance betwixt the nationalist and constabulary prevailed. “The irony is that though the constabulary beryllium for the involvement of the public, they enactment successful a vacuum of a deficiency of goodwill, deficiency of accusation and feedback and a wide deficiency of cooperation,” helium wrote successful the nonfiction published successful The Hindu.

Referring to the Rodney King incidental of constabulary brutality and nationalist relations successful the U.S., helium said the improvement of ‘police isolation’ and ‘public antagonism’ was global. Hence, determination was an urgent request for assertive societal selling of the police. The essence of the ‘Friends of Police’ question was to foster and crystallise the hitherto untapped sentiments of goodwill for the constabulary that existed among the public. “The FOP question volition extremity the societal isolation imposed connected the police, individually and arsenic an organisation….”

The voluntary enactment of the ‘Friends of Police’ lasted implicit 25 years. Though determination were immoderate complaints of high-handedness oregon petty incidents of unit involving members of the FOP, it was excessively trivial to question the intent and beingness of the organisation considering its larger work to the community. In 2002, the ‘Friends of Police’ won the prestigious Queen’s Award from the U.K. for Innovation successful Police Training and Development. The 15,000 GBP reward was utilized for the improvement of FOP.

Curtains successful 2020

However, connected July 8, 2020, the Tamil Nadu Government issued an bid revoking the ‘Friends of Police’ movement connected the ground of an adverse study from the past DGP J.K. Tripathy.

The relation of volunteers was alleged successful the custodial torture and consequent deaths of 58-year-old trader P. Jayaraj and his 31-year-old lad J. Benicks astatine Sattankulam constabulary presumption successful Thoothukudi territory during lockdown owing to COVID-19 pandemic. The FOP, however, denied the allegations saying that nary of its members was progressive successful the incident.