Goa, once a peaceful State, and Bardez and Pernem beach belt in particular, have been rocked by a series on assaults and crimes. The rape of a mentally challenged girl in Cansaulim should make the police, the intelligence agencies, the guest house owner and society at large, to hide our faces in shame. Lack of political will to fight crime, political interference in investigations, victimization of honest officers, as seen in Anjuna, Calangute and Margao, are a big setback for crime prevention and fighting.
The Goa government boasts of 95% crime detection rate. Instead, what Goa should boast of, is crime prevention. Despite the limitations in recruitments and political interference, one thing which can radically alter the crime scene in Goa is police patrolling.
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Patrolling which is the backbone of every police department, seems to be largely lacking in police stations across Goa. Either the police stations do not have vehicles or police patrols are seen parked in one place, during the day or night. The Pink Force, mandated to ensure women’s safety, is seen permanently parked near the Panjim Church through the night. How will a stationery police patrol prevent crime or ensure prompt action?
Police patrolling is critical to keeping neighbourhoods safe. They are a key to reaching out to women in distress, senior citizens and law abiding citizens from being victimised by thugs. With the emergence of all night tourism, shack culture, violation of music playing norms, casino culture and all night gaming, infiltration of touts, illicit businesses, drunken and dangerous driving, proliferation of accidents, land grabbing, and tourists walking the city and towns all night, there is absolute need for Police patrol and vigilance.
Patrolling is not about apprehending active offenders, but also about creating a sense of security among locals and tourists and preventing crime. But more than that, what the Goa police is not used to is, helping the local community around their police stations and solving community problems and winning the trust of the people.
Generally, standard patrolling is of three types – gut based patrolling, predictive patrolling and hot spot analysis. The problem with the Goa Police is that police officers are rarely seen patrolling during the day or night to deter criminals, law breakers, touts or even traffic rule violators.
Experienced police officers would conduct patrolling through neighbourhoods based on their instinct, personal experience or intuition. Predictive policing uses past crime data to prevent crime by focusing on crime events and known offenders. The third kind of police patrolling is Hot Spot Analysis where the police focus on known crime prone spots.
But more than this, Goa Police should adopt non-enforcement activities or strategies to win back the trust of the community, since people have less confidence in the police force, as an unbiased, honest and public oriented enforcer of law. Hence, firstly, Goa police should be visible, by patrolling areas, walking on the streets, parking in an area and observing since their mere presence with deter criminals.
The elders in Goa narrate how under the colonial Portuguese Rule, people would hardly lock their houses, since criminals were afraid of the Portuguese police and would not rob. Criminals do not have the same kind of fear of Goa Police.
Presence of police, especially along the tourism-shack-music playing belt, would definitely up the security of tourists and locals. In Panjim itself, police are rarely seen amid the heightened activity in the capital city at night.
Secondly, officer statistics should be made known to the public, since police salaries come from tax payers’ money. Police statistics as to where patrolling is taking place, amount of time spent on a beat, what activities the police and officer had undertaken to deter crime, should be made known, to restore confidence in the police.
Thirdly, police have to share information about non enforcement activities, as to how police have reached out to the community. Police have to coordinate and keep in touch with local bodies, clubs, societies and communities so that they can get information about possible trouble.
Presently, the trust of people in Goa Police is nothing to write home about. In the wake of targeting of honest officers and spike in crime, the police have a lot on their plate to refurbish their image, and prevent crime. Visible patrolling can be a start.
