As I learned more and more about policing and law enforcement in India, I began to theorize that the answer is not community policing writ large, but perhaps the fixing broken windows idea. While I was here there were two rapes in the city, one was a gang rape. A young woman with another woman was delivered to her home after getting off the evening shift. Evidently the cab driver did not accompany her to her door. In the US we would think that this was enough. But the police immediately came out with the idea that they would mandate that cab drivers accompany women at night. And the police would follow some cabs at night to make sure they were doing this. In another case, a woman was abducted who was with a male friend who could not prevent it. He ran around to call for help and then he ran around to see if any one saw the number of the car, but the police didn't come promptly and didn't listen to him according to the news story. But what the police can't fix is that now the family is in denial of what happened because her honor has been violated. The Chief Minister and others are investigating these rapes.
In big cities and elsewhere rapes do happen. What needs to be investigated is any ways that other government branches and NGOs, the companies can help rather than do everything. What the police need to fix is, perhaps, their response. But this is a more large scale and policing problem.
According to the broken window theory, the police need to be active in reporting, monitoring the urban environment so that people feel safe and people actually behave better. They need to reduce petty crime and vandalism. They have an excellent opportunity here in Delhi because neighborhood are gated and off the highways. This idea started with a recognition that if graffiti was removed from subway cars in NYC, people behaved better. If the street has litter, then more people drop litter and more people are disrespectful of others. If horn blowing starts (and it is all over the subcontinent), then it will continue and traffic will not follow the rules of the road. This means that police must monitor and arrest for some of the minor crimes, but also call upon the neighborhood associations to take ownership, call upon public waste departments, women's groups to help victims, and other agencies to create a civil society.
Indians speak regularly of creating a civil society. This idea fits with their world view of a democratic society for all in India no matter what religion, language, caste, or class. The petty issues, the litter, the crazy traffic do affect the quality of life and ultimately how safe they perceive themselves. It starts from the bottom up. Its not easy but it may be a start in light of so many big problems in India. But there is a mind set of pride in India as the biggest democracy and the public needs to feel safe.
Showing posts with label Community policing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Community policing. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
UN Anti-Corruption Day: Just Say No
December 9th was UN Anti-Corruption Day. While I was visiting South Asia I learned the terrible price citizens pay for corruption. Whereas the United States ranks 7.1 with 10 being the least corrupt, India ranks 3.3 and Bangladesh ranks 2. 4 Some of the Scandinavian countries, Canada and Australia rank as the least corrupt.
The saying "just say no" has to do with drugs in the United States, but in India, it means say no when a bribe is requested by a public servant for services. That must be hard for the average person or poor person to do since they are giving money to grease the palm so that a service that is necessary such as getting a license, permit, or other official document will occur sooner than later. It may be easier for industry to just say no. As a UN backed campaign says, "your no counts." If a business is an American business trying to get permits, say, in India, the business is governed by an US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Transparency International lobbied in 1998 to put more teeth into this act. Transparency International is a nonprofit that works with business, super NGOs such as the World Bank, to improve reporting of how money is spent for public purposes and by business. Without transparency, TI reasons, the poor, in the end are most affected with loss of jobs, with loss of quality of life
But it is not really enough to have a law, it takes moral and ethical business practices to reduce corruption. What Transparency International suggests is that there are power in numbers. If more businesses agreed to not give bribes then they might have more success in stopping corruption. Other nonprofits such as Ipaidabribe.com (which asks people to record when they gave a bribe, didn't give a bribe, or a public servant refused a bribe) take the approach of showing how much money is siphoned off and shaming government for its action. Another nonprofit, the Fifth Pillar sponsors a zero rupee note to give to those who ask for bribes. This idea has spread to other countries and now the Fifth Pillar is creating zero denomination "money" to be used in other countries.
What surprised me most in India was that the police were one of the most corrupt units of government. We must be thankful that we are Americans, and our problems are minor. Rarely do you read of bribes of police officers. Indians fear their police. There is little to no understanding of the idea of "to protect and serve," let alone community policing. This undermines the whole of civic society. When government law enforcement officials are corrupt there is no recourse at the lowest level of government that has regular interaction with the public. In India the Supreme Court intervenes extensively by mandating reforms, but that is not really enough. Political officials and the highest level of law enforcement must believe it is important for officers to be honest and help citizens. Then they must institute training and reinforce it by their words and actions.
Right now that seems laughable when the the India Government Commission that sponsored a conference on transparency for Anti-Corruption Day may have as its highest commissioner a man accused of taking bribes.
The Supreme Court is considering whether it is a job requirement that the commissioner be beyond repute. I'd say the answer is yes!
The saying "just say no" has to do with drugs in the United States, but in India, it means say no when a bribe is requested by a public servant for services. That must be hard for the average person or poor person to do since they are giving money to grease the palm so that a service that is necessary such as getting a license, permit, or other official document will occur sooner than later. It may be easier for industry to just say no. As a UN backed campaign says, "your no counts." If a business is an American business trying to get permits, say, in India, the business is governed by an US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Transparency International lobbied in 1998 to put more teeth into this act. Transparency International is a nonprofit that works with business, super NGOs such as the World Bank, to improve reporting of how money is spent for public purposes and by business. Without transparency, TI reasons, the poor, in the end are most affected with loss of jobs, with loss of quality of life
But it is not really enough to have a law, it takes moral and ethical business practices to reduce corruption. What Transparency International suggests is that there are power in numbers. If more businesses agreed to not give bribes then they might have more success in stopping corruption. Other nonprofits such as Ipaidabribe.com (which asks people to record when they gave a bribe, didn't give a bribe, or a public servant refused a bribe) take the approach of showing how much money is siphoned off and shaming government for its action. Another nonprofit, the Fifth Pillar sponsors a zero rupee note to give to those who ask for bribes. This idea has spread to other countries and now the Fifth Pillar is creating zero denomination "money" to be used in other countries.
What surprised me most in India was that the police were one of the most corrupt units of government. We must be thankful that we are Americans, and our problems are minor. Rarely do you read of bribes of police officers. Indians fear their police. There is little to no understanding of the idea of "to protect and serve," let alone community policing. This undermines the whole of civic society. When government law enforcement officials are corrupt there is no recourse at the lowest level of government that has regular interaction with the public. In India the Supreme Court intervenes extensively by mandating reforms, but that is not really enough. Political officials and the highest level of law enforcement must believe it is important for officers to be honest and help citizens. Then they must institute training and reinforce it by their words and actions.
Right now that seems laughable when the the India Government Commission that sponsored a conference on transparency for Anti-Corruption Day may have as its highest commissioner a man accused of taking bribes.
The Supreme Court is considering whether it is a job requirement that the commissioner be beyond repute. I'd say the answer is yes!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Transparency and Policing in India
Imagine my surprise to pick up the paper, The Times of India, and see that one of the articles on the front page was about transparency efforts in the Delhi Police. Corruption is considered to be endemic in India and the police are not exempted. In fact, the police have a reputation for being corrupt. While most Americas feel comfortable calling the police or going to the police station, that is not the case in India. They are feared as authoritarian and ignorant of rights.
The Courts intervene much more so than in the United States and this time, a division bench (lower level court) has order Delhi police (similar to the Washington DC police) to put all arrests with the purpose of the arrest on the web. This is to be effective as of 2011 Feb, a very near date by bureaucracy standards (and in the author's opinion probably not feasible). This is much more than the police beat or police blotter Americans find in many papers that lists what the police did based upon dispatches. This relates to the constitutional requirement of a presumption of innocence of an accused and his or her right to know what the charges are. Further the court declared that this was a public document and therefore, the public not just the accused has the right to know. This actually goes beyond the current Indian law that allows an accused to obtain a court to obtain nformation on his or her violation of the law.
In the same paper, the prospective appointee to be Chief Commissioner of the Civil Vigilance Commission, an investigatory body to root out corruption, is facing sharp attacks from the media and the Supreme Court of India. He has been accused of taking bribes and is awaiting trial. This is hardly the ethical or moral high road for a parliament to take if the legislators feel that the Commission is important no matter what the outcome of his trial.
Finally, the Supreme Court is pressing for states to pass reforms to their state police acts. These suggested reforms are based upon a National Commission that was set up to make recommendations to the states to up-date and modernise law enforcement. Whether the suggestions are good or bad depends upon which of the many reforms you look at. What is clear is law enforcement is largely an authoritarian hierarchical structure and as such it is not particularly responsive to pressing needs of the public to feel secure and to serve the public. As such each state's police are insular, lack accountability and transparency. In a country that is fighting terrorism as the US is, it needs the support and the help of citizens to prevent terrorism. It is hard to do if police do not see its role as to protect and serve, the motto of many a city police force in the US,
These newspaper articles could not be more timely. 9 Dec is UN anti-corruption day and Transparency International (where I visited today) is a participant in the day hosted by the UN. I will attending the Engagement of a Civil Society in Addressing Corruption. I look forward to learning more about what India has been doing. The former Chief of the Civil Vigilance Commission will be chairing the panel.
The Courts intervene much more so than in the United States and this time, a division bench (lower level court) has order Delhi police (similar to the Washington DC police) to put all arrests with the purpose of the arrest on the web. This is to be effective as of 2011 Feb, a very near date by bureaucracy standards (and in the author's opinion probably not feasible). This is much more than the police beat or police blotter Americans find in many papers that lists what the police did based upon dispatches. This relates to the constitutional requirement of a presumption of innocence of an accused and his or her right to know what the charges are. Further the court declared that this was a public document and therefore, the public not just the accused has the right to know. This actually goes beyond the current Indian law that allows an accused to obtain a court to obtain nformation on his or her violation of the law.
In the same paper, the prospective appointee to be Chief Commissioner of the Civil Vigilance Commission, an investigatory body to root out corruption, is facing sharp attacks from the media and the Supreme Court of India. He has been accused of taking bribes and is awaiting trial. This is hardly the ethical or moral high road for a parliament to take if the legislators feel that the Commission is important no matter what the outcome of his trial.
Finally, the Supreme Court is pressing for states to pass reforms to their state police acts. These suggested reforms are based upon a National Commission that was set up to make recommendations to the states to up-date and modernise law enforcement. Whether the suggestions are good or bad depends upon which of the many reforms you look at. What is clear is law enforcement is largely an authoritarian hierarchical structure and as such it is not particularly responsive to pressing needs of the public to feel secure and to serve the public. As such each state's police are insular, lack accountability and transparency. In a country that is fighting terrorism as the US is, it needs the support and the help of citizens to prevent terrorism. It is hard to do if police do not see its role as to protect and serve, the motto of many a city police force in the US,
These newspaper articles could not be more timely. 9 Dec is UN anti-corruption day and Transparency International (where I visited today) is a participant in the day hosted by the UN. I will attending the Engagement of a Civil Society in Addressing Corruption. I look forward to learning more about what India has been doing. The former Chief of the Civil Vigilance Commission will be chairing the panel.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Policing in the United Arab Emirates
Comparisons with the United States
I had the opportunity to visit Sharjah Police Research Centre recently on my February visit to the Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). My purpose was to better understand policing in a predominantly Muslim country but one that is diverse in ethnicity and religion in its population. How different is policing or similar is policing?
A Brief History
Sharjah sits between the better known Emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It has the 3rd largest city in the Emirates. The Emirates are a loose confederation of seven states each governed by a sheik. The Emirates are positioned to take advantage of trade sitting at the mouth of the Persian Gulf running into the Gulf of Oman and then to the Arabian Sea. Up until 1968 the Emirates were sleepy little places where pearl diving was a major source of income as well as a little trade. In 1968 oil was found. In 1971 the Emirates won their independence from Britain and instituted their own constitution. Dubai was already transforming itself as a major mid-east hub for tax free trade, tourism, and most recently for healthcare while Abu Dhabi, the Emirate with the most oil, was becoming the hub for the oil industry. Sharjah sits in between these two major hubs.
Today, the country is a very wealthy, highly urbanized country from Dubai to Sharjah to Abu Dhabi. Women work and drive and wear western to traditional clothes. Male Emirate citizens often wear the traditional dress, a white flowing robe called a dishdashah. Alcohol is served at restaurants. Beaches are filled with those wearing western style bathing suits. And the country has a typical American problem: too many cars. While I was there Dubai was testing out an automated monorail system to alleviate traffic.
Law
The Emirates are monarchies governed by codified criminal and civil law. According to Shane Sayers and Kennedy, a British law firm, the codes draw from Egyptian and European law. If there is no relevant law, the judge relies upon Islamic law particularly the Mejelleh, a 19th century codification of Islamic law. Civil courts were created in Sharjah in 1971 to handle commercial, labor disputes, and some criminal matters. The remainder of cases are handled through a federal system that includes a supreme court.
Unlike the US system, there are no jury trials. There is a practical reason for it. Only about 20 to 25% of the population are actually citizens of the Emirates. Court decisions by judges is not unlike some European countries such as Italy in which judges handle more of the work of the courts from investigation of criminal matters to rulings.
Law Enforcement
Research on community policing including my own research has shown that the public perceives one of the major problems, if not the major problem for law enforcement, to be speeding. Citizens want speeding controlled, although perhaps not their own speeding. For law enforcement in Sharjah and the Emirates as a whole, traffic related problems are also a major problem. Law enforcement has a particularly difficult time because residents come from so many different countries with different degrees of enforcement and the extended family of the sheiks are often given special treatment. Since this is Ramadan, they also face citizens who may be fatigued from fasting and officers may be fatigued as well. Muslims do not eat or drink between sun up and sun down when until they “break fast.” Officers may choose to break the fast while they work just as officers take meals in this country or if they have family obligations, they may switch a shift with another officer.
At the other end of the spectrum are more complicated problems that require the use of technology and more sophisticated policing techniques and strategies. Because most of the working population are “expats” as legal residents are called, immigration problems are a constant issue. Many construction and related workers come to UAE by paying a company to secure a job. Upon arrival, the worker may find his or her passport stolen, underpaid for work, or without work. Without a job a worker cannot stay in the country beyond six months, but without money, the worker cannot return home. Law enforcement must try prevent and deal with the perpetrators of the scams as well as the resulting illegal aliens. Further, because UAE is a wealthy country, law enforcement must deal with financial scams, banking fraud, and drug trafficking. At the federal level this means upgrading computer technology to work with other countries.
Planning
In the UAE, planning for excellence is an important part of society. The Sheik of Dubai, for example, invites companies to develop a university or a hospital after having identified those excellent companies or organizations. Planning often involves clustering similar businesses or services. (Whether this is a wise idea to cluster all similar services depends upon your point of view. I went through an area in Dubai that was all auto repair functions and an another area that was all health care functions.) Many emirate universities are clustered in one location creating a different relationship from the typical town-gown relationship in the United States. Both the Sheik of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Sheik of Sharjah, His Highness Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi mandated clusters to promote higher education partnering with excellent universities in Europe and the United States.
Law Enforcement and Universities
In the case of Sharjah, this education cluster includes the newly built police academy and research centre and a teaching hospital. The Sharjah Police Academy and Research Centre are newly built. The four year academy to train law enforcement, both women and men, is more similar to a college and sits in the same area as other universities. (Unfortunately, housing for students is not available on the campus.) The Academy recruits students who speak a variety of languages, but they must speak either Arabic or English as well. Instruction is in Arabic, but students who speak only English receive a translator.
According to Dr. Mamdouh A. Abdelmottlep, my host, a professor of criminal justice, and senior researcher at the Research Centre, students receive training in the law, forensics, national security, leadership, protection for the safety of the community, traffic enforcement, and search, fire and rescue techniques. Although students learn about community policing concepts, the trend since 2001 has been to place more and more focus on security issues. This is also, in part, due to the fact that most Arabic countries including the UAE do not have the different levels of policing as in the United States. For some Arabic countries informal policing of communities may be established by a village elder. For the Emirate of Sharjah, the Sharjah police is the primary police presence.
Community policing may take the form of a special project in the community that may or may not have police involvement. When there is a security problem, police do try to get to know the community, particularly important since they must build trust with people from many, many countries. “Expats” may be from India (and may be Hindu, Muslim or of other religions), Bangladesh, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines (predominantly Christian), Yemen, and many European countries.
The reduced emphasis on community policing is unlike Maine and Vermont’s academies (and possibly all) that continue to focus of community policing. But even in New England, the curriculum is beginning to change to reflect the new emphasis of all levels of law enforcement on security. Connecticut, for example, has added a section on terrorism and suicide bombers and immigration law.
The Police Research Centre researches current issues and publishes a regular academic refereed journal relevant to the students at the police academy and to law enforcement officials. It is published in Arabic but the titles of the article and summaries are published in English so that parties who may not speak English can have them translated. They are published on the web and in print to make them more accessible. And the topics may sound familiar to those who work in public safety on university campuses, such as public attitudes towards police, theft crimes, and domestic violence.
The research staff is composed of senior researchers from Egypt, Russia, and Oman who have advanced degrees. The research assistants, all women from the Emirates, have degrees from leading universities including the University of Michigan. All speak Arabic and English with various degrees of fluency plus additional languages of their home countries.
Surprisingly, police officers are unlikely to be citizens of the country. The UAE recruits students from throughout the mid-east to enter the academy and serve as police officers. This puts enormous pressure on the academies to inculcate students in the culture of the UAE and in understanding the culture of so many “expats” who reside there. A solicitor for a person accused of a crime is more likely than not to be an “expat.” Still, this is slowly changing. The research center director is a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and a police officer. Most UAE citizens do not need to work because the country is so wealthy but the sheiks are increasingly encouraging citizens to take professional positions to help direct the country.
Future
The Constitution of the UAE places paramount importance of the safety and security of its citizens. As Dr. Mamdouh points out, policing at the administrative level has changed fundamentally in Arabic countries as it has in the United States since 2001. Arab law enforcement agencies are upgrading computer systems at the behest and with the assistance of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The US Department of Homeland Security as it affects the citizens and law enforcement of this country also affects the politics and law, the professionalism of law enforcement, and the community of Arabic states, including the UAE. Dr. Mamdouh writes that Arabic police agencies are and should focus efforts on 1) protecting the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors, 2) building trust, confidence, and communication with the community, 3) encouraging residents to report crimes to make safer communities, 4) improving police performance through technology and science, 5) using research to improve police strategies, and 6) obtaining equipment and physical structures for law enforcement. Campus public safety professionals certainly understand these latter concerns for infrastructure as they educate administrators who in the past might have downplayed the needs of campus public safety.
For further information
Abdlmottlep, Mamdouh. “Fear of Police. Public Attitudes Toward the Police.” Sharjah Police Research Centre Journal. 136 (2007): 1-131.
Abdlmottlep, Mamdouh. “Arabic Police.” Sharjah Police Research Centre Journal.” 139 (2008).
Ball, Carolyn. “Accommodating Islam in Law Enforcement.” Law Enforcement Executive Forum. (May 2005): 29-34.
_____ and Akhlaque Haque. “Diversity in Religious Practice: Implications of Islamic Values in the Public Workplace.” Public Personnel Management. 32 (June 2003): 315-331.
_____ and Akhlaque Haque. “Accommodating Islamic Religious Practices in the Workplace.” PA Times. November 2003, p. 5.
Ball, Carolyn and Kenneth Nichols. “Domestic Violence at the Top of New England: Law Enforcement Incident Reports from Aroostook County, Maine.” New England Journal of Public Policy. 17 (Spring/Summer 2002): 39-54.
Ball, Carolyn. "Rural Perceptions of Crime." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 17 (February 2001): 37-48.
El-Sadig M, J.N. Norman et al. “Road Traffic Accidents in the United Arab Emirates: Trends Of Morbidity And Mortality During 1977-1998” Accidents Analysis and Prevention. 34(July 2002):465-76.
Sharjah Police. United Arab Emirates. http://www.shjpolice.gov.ae/en/index.html
I had the opportunity to visit Sharjah Police Research Centre recently on my February visit to the Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). My purpose was to better understand policing in a predominantly Muslim country but one that is diverse in ethnicity and religion in its population. How different is policing or similar is policing?
A Brief History
Sharjah sits between the better known Emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It has the 3rd largest city in the Emirates. The Emirates are a loose confederation of seven states each governed by a sheik. The Emirates are positioned to take advantage of trade sitting at the mouth of the Persian Gulf running into the Gulf of Oman and then to the Arabian Sea. Up until 1968 the Emirates were sleepy little places where pearl diving was a major source of income as well as a little trade. In 1968 oil was found. In 1971 the Emirates won their independence from Britain and instituted their own constitution. Dubai was already transforming itself as a major mid-east hub for tax free trade, tourism, and most recently for healthcare while Abu Dhabi, the Emirate with the most oil, was becoming the hub for the oil industry. Sharjah sits in between these two major hubs.
Today, the country is a very wealthy, highly urbanized country from Dubai to Sharjah to Abu Dhabi. Women work and drive and wear western to traditional clothes. Male Emirate citizens often wear the traditional dress, a white flowing robe called a dishdashah. Alcohol is served at restaurants. Beaches are filled with those wearing western style bathing suits. And the country has a typical American problem: too many cars. While I was there Dubai was testing out an automated monorail system to alleviate traffic.
Law
The Emirates are monarchies governed by codified criminal and civil law. According to Shane Sayers and Kennedy, a British law firm, the codes draw from Egyptian and European law. If there is no relevant law, the judge relies upon Islamic law particularly the Mejelleh, a 19th century codification of Islamic law. Civil courts were created in Sharjah in 1971 to handle commercial, labor disputes, and some criminal matters. The remainder of cases are handled through a federal system that includes a supreme court.
Unlike the US system, there are no jury trials. There is a practical reason for it. Only about 20 to 25% of the population are actually citizens of the Emirates. Court decisions by judges is not unlike some European countries such as Italy in which judges handle more of the work of the courts from investigation of criminal matters to rulings.
Law Enforcement
Research on community policing including my own research has shown that the public perceives one of the major problems, if not the major problem for law enforcement, to be speeding. Citizens want speeding controlled, although perhaps not their own speeding. For law enforcement in Sharjah and the Emirates as a whole, traffic related problems are also a major problem. Law enforcement has a particularly difficult time because residents come from so many different countries with different degrees of enforcement and the extended family of the sheiks are often given special treatment. Since this is Ramadan, they also face citizens who may be fatigued from fasting and officers may be fatigued as well. Muslims do not eat or drink between sun up and sun down when until they “break fast.” Officers may choose to break the fast while they work just as officers take meals in this country or if they have family obligations, they may switch a shift with another officer.
At the other end of the spectrum are more complicated problems that require the use of technology and more sophisticated policing techniques and strategies. Because most of the working population are “expats” as legal residents are called, immigration problems are a constant issue. Many construction and related workers come to UAE by paying a company to secure a job. Upon arrival, the worker may find his or her passport stolen, underpaid for work, or without work. Without a job a worker cannot stay in the country beyond six months, but without money, the worker cannot return home. Law enforcement must try prevent and deal with the perpetrators of the scams as well as the resulting illegal aliens. Further, because UAE is a wealthy country, law enforcement must deal with financial scams, banking fraud, and drug trafficking. At the federal level this means upgrading computer technology to work with other countries.
Planning
In the UAE, planning for excellence is an important part of society. The Sheik of Dubai, for example, invites companies to develop a university or a hospital after having identified those excellent companies or organizations. Planning often involves clustering similar businesses or services. (Whether this is a wise idea to cluster all similar services depends upon your point of view. I went through an area in Dubai that was all auto repair functions and an another area that was all health care functions.) Many emirate universities are clustered in one location creating a different relationship from the typical town-gown relationship in the United States. Both the Sheik of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Sheik of Sharjah, His Highness Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi mandated clusters to promote higher education partnering with excellent universities in Europe and the United States.
Law Enforcement and Universities
In the case of Sharjah, this education cluster includes the newly built police academy and research centre and a teaching hospital. The Sharjah Police Academy and Research Centre are newly built. The four year academy to train law enforcement, both women and men, is more similar to a college and sits in the same area as other universities. (Unfortunately, housing for students is not available on the campus.) The Academy recruits students who speak a variety of languages, but they must speak either Arabic or English as well. Instruction is in Arabic, but students who speak only English receive a translator.
According to Dr. Mamdouh A. Abdelmottlep, my host, a professor of criminal justice, and senior researcher at the Research Centre, students receive training in the law, forensics, national security, leadership, protection for the safety of the community, traffic enforcement, and search, fire and rescue techniques. Although students learn about community policing concepts, the trend since 2001 has been to place more and more focus on security issues. This is also, in part, due to the fact that most Arabic countries including the UAE do not have the different levels of policing as in the United States. For some Arabic countries informal policing of communities may be established by a village elder. For the Emirate of Sharjah, the Sharjah police is the primary police presence.
Community policing may take the form of a special project in the community that may or may not have police involvement. When there is a security problem, police do try to get to know the community, particularly important since they must build trust with people from many, many countries. “Expats” may be from India (and may be Hindu, Muslim or of other religions), Bangladesh, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines (predominantly Christian), Yemen, and many European countries.
The reduced emphasis on community policing is unlike Maine and Vermont’s academies (and possibly all) that continue to focus of community policing. But even in New England, the curriculum is beginning to change to reflect the new emphasis of all levels of law enforcement on security. Connecticut, for example, has added a section on terrorism and suicide bombers and immigration law.
The Police Research Centre researches current issues and publishes a regular academic refereed journal relevant to the students at the police academy and to law enforcement officials. It is published in Arabic but the titles of the article and summaries are published in English so that parties who may not speak English can have them translated. They are published on the web and in print to make them more accessible. And the topics may sound familiar to those who work in public safety on university campuses, such as public attitudes towards police, theft crimes, and domestic violence.
The research staff is composed of senior researchers from Egypt, Russia, and Oman who have advanced degrees. The research assistants, all women from the Emirates, have degrees from leading universities including the University of Michigan. All speak Arabic and English with various degrees of fluency plus additional languages of their home countries.
Surprisingly, police officers are unlikely to be citizens of the country. The UAE recruits students from throughout the mid-east to enter the academy and serve as police officers. This puts enormous pressure on the academies to inculcate students in the culture of the UAE and in understanding the culture of so many “expats” who reside there. A solicitor for a person accused of a crime is more likely than not to be an “expat.” Still, this is slowly changing. The research center director is a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and a police officer. Most UAE citizens do not need to work because the country is so wealthy but the sheiks are increasingly encouraging citizens to take professional positions to help direct the country.
Future
The Constitution of the UAE places paramount importance of the safety and security of its citizens. As Dr. Mamdouh points out, policing at the administrative level has changed fundamentally in Arabic countries as it has in the United States since 2001. Arab law enforcement agencies are upgrading computer systems at the behest and with the assistance of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The US Department of Homeland Security as it affects the citizens and law enforcement of this country also affects the politics and law, the professionalism of law enforcement, and the community of Arabic states, including the UAE. Dr. Mamdouh writes that Arabic police agencies are and should focus efforts on 1) protecting the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors, 2) building trust, confidence, and communication with the community, 3) encouraging residents to report crimes to make safer communities, 4) improving police performance through technology and science, 5) using research to improve police strategies, and 6) obtaining equipment and physical structures for law enforcement. Campus public safety professionals certainly understand these latter concerns for infrastructure as they educate administrators who in the past might have downplayed the needs of campus public safety.
For further information
Abdlmottlep, Mamdouh. “Fear of Police. Public Attitudes Toward the Police.” Sharjah Police Research Centre Journal. 136 (2007): 1-131.
Abdlmottlep, Mamdouh. “Arabic Police.” Sharjah Police Research Centre Journal.” 139 (2008).
Ball, Carolyn. “Accommodating Islam in Law Enforcement.” Law Enforcement Executive Forum. (May 2005): 29-34.
_____ and Akhlaque Haque. “Diversity in Religious Practice: Implications of Islamic Values in the Public Workplace.” Public Personnel Management. 32 (June 2003): 315-331.
_____ and Akhlaque Haque. “Accommodating Islamic Religious Practices in the Workplace.” PA Times. November 2003, p. 5.
Ball, Carolyn and Kenneth Nichols. “Domestic Violence at the Top of New England: Law Enforcement Incident Reports from Aroostook County, Maine.” New England Journal of Public Policy. 17 (Spring/Summer 2002): 39-54.
Ball, Carolyn. "Rural Perceptions of Crime." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 17 (February 2001): 37-48.
El-Sadig M, J.N. Norman et al. “Road Traffic Accidents in the United Arab Emirates: Trends Of Morbidity And Mortality During 1977-1998” Accidents Analysis and Prevention. 34(July 2002):465-76.
Sharjah Police. United Arab Emirates. http://www.shjpolice.gov.ae/en/index.html
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