Karachi police launch three pilot projects to develop community policing

The Karachi police chief has announced three pilot projects to develop community policing in the metropolis. Additional IGP Amir Ahmed Shaikh told The News on Sunday that three new units have been formed within the District South Police and the projects will later be expanded throughout the city.

Shaikh said the School Safety Division (SSD) will serve as the ambassador of the police in educational institutions, the Anti-Affinity Theft Unit (AATU) will be involved in the detection and the prevention of thefts by domestic workers, and the Mall Liaison Unit (MLU) will cooperate with shopping malls to deal better with crises.

He said the task was assigned to District South SSP Pir Muhammad Shah, who worked under the direct supervision of South Range DIG Sharjeel Kharal.

SSD

Shaikh said that with an objective to build bridges with children, engaging them within the school setting and to create a positive police presence to build lasting relationships, the Karachi police are raising an SSD.

He said that its role is to increase positive relationships and remove barriers between the school community and the police through implementation of programmes and strategies to reduce crimes and anti-social behaviours among the youth.

He added that the project’s goals are to build bridges with the youth, remind them that they are leaders and not followers, restore respect for the police in the community and engage students in after-school activities.

The police chief said that through this project they can help children handle peer pressure and increase reporting of offences committed against the youth and their properties. He added that they will concentrate on preventive measures so the number of future offences can be decreased, introduce the youth to policing as a profession, and help them join Volunteer in Police Initiative and become members of the Neighbourhood Watch Programme.

He said the agenda also includes sensitising the youth on crimes, criminal behaviours, traffic laws, road safety and drugs, as well as educating students on bullying.

AATU

Shaikh said house thefts based on bonds of trust, which are known as affinity thefts, occur throughout Karachi, but they are especially prevalent in the Defence and Clifton neighbourhoods.

He said that years of investigations into such offences have revealed that domestic workers work in gangs and victimise the women of the houses after developing trust with them. He added that the District South police have established an AATU headed by Sub-Inspector Faiz Muhammad, a veteran investigator of the Darakhshan police station, to deal with these organised crimes.

The police chief said that unlike a drug addict who might rob a bank out of desperation, these crimes are ruthlessly premeditated. He advised against allowing trust to take place instead of due diligence.

He also advised noting down the phone numbers of the domestic workers, capturing their recent pictures, keeping copies of their ID cards and visiting the police stations to register them. He said the police can then verify the antecedents of the domestic workers and build a database that can help prevent and detect any such offences.

MLU

Shaikh said that Pakistan faces a real threat from terrorism and that crowded places remain an attractive target, adding that shopping malls are soft targets because they are not only crowded but also easily accessible.

He said that with the intention to provide protective security to malls, the District South police have raised a four-member MLU to take on the challenge as a SWAT team in any eventuality. He added that while the unit will concentrate on measures to counter terrorism, it will also work against other threats, such as thefts, burglaries and arson.

The police chief said that in peace time the MLU officers will be deployed as behaviour officers in civvies, adding that they will be a resource for the malls mandated to police and will always be available to mitigate threats of terrorism and making the district less vulnerable to attacks.