COMMUNITY-ORIENTED-POLICING lecture presented to the East Africa Standing Force (EASF) at the Humanitarian Peace Support School (HPSS), Embakasi

1. COMMUNITY-ORIENTED-POLICING
Lecture presented to the East Africa Standing Force (EASF) at the
Humanitarian Peace Support School (HPSS), Embakasi
Presented by
Omondi Okwany
Research fellow at the University of Nairobi and assistant research
fellow at the Norwegian University of Life Science
Email: omondiokwany2000@gmail.com or cliffmode2006@gmail.com

2. ICT4COP PROJECT
• ICT4COP is EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Project
• The projects is involved in post-conflict countries
• The Projects covers
1. Africa – Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan
2. Latin America –Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador
3. South Eastern Europe – Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina
4. South Asia – Pakistan, Afghanistan

3. ICT4COP PROJECTS PARTNERS
• Norwegian University of Life Science –Norway
• Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) – Norway
• Oslo University –Norway
• Durham University – United Kingdom
• Jagiellonian University – Poland
• Ruhr University Bochum – Germany
• Norwegian Police College –Norway
• University of Bremen – Germany
• Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) – Norway
• Applied Intelligence Analytics (AIA) –Ireland
• Social Impact Lab – United Kingdom

4. THEMATIC AREAS OF ICT4COP
• Gender
• Youth
• Police training and education
• Technology development
• Methodology and Comparative Analysis

5. HISTORY OF COMMUNITY POLICING (COP)
• Originated from the global North
• The 1960s – outbreak of crime and National civil rights movements
• The 1960s to 1970s lead to policy and research in policing
• The 1970s and the 1980 – “Old Bobby on the beat” – police who patrols a territory in
particular time, using pragmatic common-sense to deal with societal disorder.
• The late 1980 and 1990s – democratization and COP introduction to COP in Africa.
• Today COP has been practised differently in various countries and regions –
Therefore, African Union Police (AUPOL) should focus on “Police diplomacy”1
when thinking COP.

6. WHAT IS COMMUNITY-POLICING?
• COP is an ambiguous term practiced within and between states.
• Stakeholders such as Police, local communities, donor and civil
societies have different definition of what COP should be.
• To some it is community-oriented-policing, others see COP as
community-based-policing or just community-policing
• Generally is it a security method based on trust between community
and police working together to keep community secure.

7. WHAT IS COMMUNITY-POLICING?
• The United Nations Peace Operations defines Community Oriented Policing as “A
strategy for encouraging the public to act as partners with the police in preventing
and managing crime as well as other aspects of security and order based on the
needs of the community”. (UNPO, 2018, Pg. 2).
• Nonetheless, the United Nation Peace Operations definition focuses on one
dimension of COP – “the public to act” and does not focus on the Police action.
• COP is often understood as a style or a strategy of policing that reflects local
community needs, and that promote partnership between local communities and
the police, with the aim of preventing and managing crime and to resolve social
disorder (See, Lid and Okwany, 2020, Pg. 1). A strategy to problem solving
• As a Philosophy, COP involves Citizen-police involvement (trust) and decentralization.

8. UNDERSTANDING OF COP
• PHILOSOPHY BASED ON:-
• mutual trust between Community and Police.
• Changing Police from a force to service
• STRATEGY BASED ON:-
• Partnership – Community and police working together
• Problem-solving –
• Problem oriented –identifying and analysing spesific
crime
• Proactive – controling situation
• Responsive –positive and quick reaction
• Reassurance - removal of doubt and fear

9. 9
1. Agency has multi-disciplinary
partnerships with indicated community
partners, including other government
agencies, non-profit and community
groups, businesses, the media, and
individuals.
2. Existing partnerships bring appropriate
resources and level of commitment to
community policing activities.
3. Level of interaction between law
enforcement agency and community
partners: communication, coordination,
or collaboration.
Community Partnerships
Collaborative partnerships between the law
enforcement agency and the individuals and
organizations that serve or include anyone with a
stake in the community.
Problem Solving Organizational Transformation
COMMUNITY POLICING ELEMENTS
The process and effect of problem solving
should be assessed at each stage of the
problem solving process.
1. Agency management
• Leadership
• Decision-making
• Planning and Policies
• Organizational evaluations
• Agency Accountability
• Transparency
2. Organizational structure
• Geographic assignment of
officers
• De-specialization
• Flatten organizational structure
• Resources and finances
3. Personnel
• Recruitment, hiring and
selection
• Personnel evaluation and
supervision
• Training
4. Technology/information systems
• Communication/Access to Data
• Quality and Accuracy of Data
1. General Problem Solving Approach
2. Problem Solving Processes
• Scanning
• Analysis
• Response
• Assessment
3. General Skill in Problem Solving

10. 10
Principle Problem-Oriented Policing Community-Oriented Policing
Primary emphasis Substantive social problems within police mandate Engaging the community in the policing process
When police and community collaborate Determined on a problem by problem basis Always or nearly always
Emphasis on problem analysis Highest priority given to thorough analysis Encouraged, but less important than community
collaboration
Preference for responses Strong preference that alternatives to criminal law
enforcement be explored
Preference for collaborative responses with community
Role for police in organizing and mobilizing community Advocated only if warranted within the context of the
specific problem being addressed
Emphasizes strong role for police
Importance of geographic decentralization of police and
continuity of officer assignment to community
Preferred, but not essential Essential
Degree to which police share decision-making authority
with community
Strongly encourages input from community while preserving
ultimate decision-making authority to police
Emphasizes sharing decision-making authority with
community
Emphasis on officer skills Emphasizes intellectual and analytical skills Emphasizes interpersonal skills
View of the role or mandate of police Encourages broad, but not unlimited role for police, stresses
limited capacities of police and guards against creating
unrealistic expectations of police
Encourages expansive role for police to achieve ambitious
social objectives
Selected Comparisons Between Problem-Oriented Policing
and Community Policing Principles

11. CONTEXTUAL FEATURES OF COMMUNITY POLICING
• The localness vs the international context
• Leadership
• Historical
• Politics
• Culture
• Low salary

12. QUESTIONS FOR GROUP
DISCUSSION:
1. What are the challenges and/or opportunities by conducting COP
training mainly based on generic international COP training
material?
2. Do you in your regions/countries have any examples of COP projects
or trainings developed locally which are not based on international
standards? If yes, challenges and opportunities in relation to that?
3. How do local perceptions of COP affect how COP training
should/should not carried out?
(Interesting aspects here can be: local ownership, COP being a politicized issue etc.)

13. REFERENCE
• Brodgen M, Nijhar P. 2005. Community policing: National and international models and approaches: Willan Pub.
• CASEY, J. 2010. Implementing Community Policing in Different Countries and Cultures. Pakistan Journal of Criminology, 2, 55-70.
• Denney L. Securing communities? Redefining community policing to achieve results. Synthesis report London: ODI. 2015.
https://www.odi.org/publications/9438-securing-communities-redefining-community-policing-achieve-results
• Garland D. The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society: University of Chicago Press; 2012
• LID, S. & OKWANY, C. C. O. 2019. Designing Community Policing Models: The relevance of political and security factors.
https://communitypolicing.eu/2019/11/11/designing-community-policing-models-the-relevance-of-political-and-security-factors/, 8, 3.
• LID, S. & OKWANY, C. C. O. 2020. Protecting citizens or an instrument for surveillance? - the development of community-oriented policing in Kenya.
Journal for Human Security / Librello.
• Nyborg I. Emerging Perspectives on Post-Conflict Police-Community Relations. Journal of Human Security. 2019;15(2):1-6.
• Skogan WG. The promise of community policing. In: Weisburd D and Braga AA, editors. Police innovation: contrasting perspectives. New York:
Cambridge University Press; 2006.
• UNPO 2018. Community-Oriented Policing in United Nations Peace Operations. In: UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS
& SUPPORT, D. O. F. (eds.). UNHQ, New York: UNPO.
• Wisler D, Onwudiwe ID. Community policing: International patterns and comparative perspectives: CRC Press; 2009.
• See, Understanding of Community Policing: a digital story. Available at <https://communitypolicing.eu/2019/11/28/understanding-community-
oriented-policing-a-digital-story/>
• See, https://communitypolicing.eu/research-areas/