From Olukayode Idowu, Maiduguri
SUNRISE NEWS, Borno, Aug 16, 2020 Community Policing Committee has been inaugurated on Monday in troubled Borno State.
Inaugurating the Committee, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 15 Maiduguri, Lawan Ado said the community policing will reduce crime right from the grassroots in the state.
The committee which draws its membership from local hunters, civilian Joint Task Force, Vigilante groups, and members of the Civil Society is expected to work closely with traditional rulers to identify bad eggs in the society at the micro-level of the society.
The AIG, said community policing is the new global way of combating crime in the society.
He said: “This has become the best global trend of combating crimes from the micro-level of the society,” stressing that: “Apart from the involvement of the conventional local security outfits, local women, traders, and community leaders too must buy into the new approach of crime prevention.”
He noted that: “The idea of community policing is to prevent crimes at the grassroots level, and this is going to be intelligence-driven. It is about a partnership with the community and collaboration with members of the society. This will give a long way to reducing crime and bringing about a new trend in policing.”
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Borno Police Community Relations Committee, Alhaji Sanda Sheriff, said the inauguration of the committee was a milestone in the police-community relations in Borno State.
He said: “This will bring relief to us and engender better cooperation between the police and members of the society. In the past, there has been distrust between the two.
“But this inauguration of the community policing committee will bring about trust and cooperation.
“Our job as a Committee is to go into society and select trusted and reliable people that will work as community police.”
The Borno state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Aliyu, disclosed that only 50 volunteers will be selected from all the LGAs in the state for a start.
