It was the realization that “fear of the police is greater than fear of crime” that made Dr Prateep V Philip, Inspector General of Police, who looks after human rights and social justice in Tamil Nadu, start the Friends Of Police (FOP) movement. FOP was an attempt to humanize the police force and bridge the yawning gulf between the policeman and the citizen.
“The negative perception disempowers the police force. When I joined the Indian Police Service in 1987, I wanted to share the power I got from the people with them so that they would not fear the police but respect them,” says Philip. He describes FOP as a multi-dimensional concept which could mean friends of police, friends of people, friends of press and friends of poor. FOP encompasses any role that a proactive citizen can play. When he began propagating the concept at public meetings and among colleagues, the response encouraged him to ponder a structure.
And then a life-altering incident occurred. In 1991, Philip was wounded in the bomb blast that killed Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur. In the mayhem after the explosion, he lay in a pool of blood, thirsting for water. It was a young boy from the crowd who brought him some water. On the spot, Philip decided to involve the public actively in policing.
In 1991, Philip was wounded in the bomb blast that killed Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur….he lay in a pool of blood, thirsting for water. A young boy from the crowd brought him water
His brainchild finally took concrete shape the next year, when he was posted as Superintendent of Police at Virudhunagar district. Settling into his first district posting, he was shifted to the sensitive Ramanathapuram district. Faced with the problem of coastal security and other challenges, it occurred to him that this was an ideal nursery for the seed of FOP. The movement was launched and close to 20,000 people were enrolled as friends of police in a district where the police strength was only 1,000.
The public gradually realized that FOP was not an unemployment avenue, but a voluntary service. It was an opportunity to serve and protect the community that one belonged to. Rncouraged by the vernacular press, hundreds of men and women joined the movement. There were queries from across the state about FOP and requests for it to be started in neighbouring districts.
At a state-level conference in July 1994, Philip presented a cost-benefit analysis of the FOP programme and appealed to the state government to extend it to the entire state. The Home Ministry evaluated the proposal and issued a government order implementing the programme in the entire state. Thousands of people of all ages as well as the unemployed and retired volunteered in all districts.
The movement won global recognition in 2002 when Philip was awarded the Queen’s Award for Innovation along with £15,000. The amount enabled him to set up a hi-tech multimedia training centre for FOP in Chennai. It is Asia’s first such training centre and trained 35,000 friends of police and 35,000 police personnel from all ranks till March this year. The Tamil Nadu government now funds the training centre to the tune of Rs 20 lakh per annum.
The state now has over 3,00,000 FOP members. Each member is committed to prevent crime. In all police stations, every officer is accompanied by a couple of friends of police. There is an increase in the night beat by a factor of 1 or 2. They help to preempt law and order problems and crime, and even detect crimes. Fear of the police has reduced and awareness of the humane side of the police has increased. Intelligence and information flow has multiplied because FOP also acts as a Citizen Intelligence Network (CIN).
CIN is also an effective tool to counter terrorism. Terrorists no longer work in isolation nor do they focus on highly secured targets. They now ingrain themselves in the public and harm ordinary people in public places. The solution is either a tremendous increase in police surveillance or creating awareness at citizen level through FOP.
Philip’s vision encompasses spreading the FOP movement at national and international level. Delegates from Kenya, China, the UK and US have come to study the model. Pondicherry and Bihar have recently introduced the programme. Its details, as a blueprint for community policing, are available in the book The Friends of Police Movement: A Roadmap for Proactive People Protection, published by ICFAI Books, and on www.friendsofpolice.net.
