Community policing: an indian experiment with Thikri Pehra

In most simplest way, Community Policing can be defined as the process of involving people through their participation in policing. The multi dimensional role of police and the increased expectations of the people from the police are the reason behind the origin of this concept. Police no longer treated as the sole guardian of law and order in the society, therefore, the onus to protect and secure themselves has been transferred to the community through this approach. In fact through Community Policing the citizens are involved into the process of policing themselves. The age old Indian experiment of ‘Thikri Pehra' resulted in controlling, preventing and checkup the crime in the local settings. The concept and philosophy of Thikri Pehra lies in the theme that People of the area in turn will take control of the security of their area by way of patrolling at night or if required in the day time as well. The concept of thikri pehra in villages is to involve villages in organized groups armed mainly with sticks and occasionally with spears and swords and a sprinkling of guns if anyone has a license for one, formed whenever there is an upswing in crime. They patrol the village at night. The Village Patrol Act of 1918, as applicable in Punjab empowers the District Magistrate to direct villages for patrolling. However, many times villagers themselves resort to this without any formal orders. There are several examples and cases which have strengthened forcefully the utility of Thikri Pehras in the operations of Community Policing. In this paper effort has made to study the importance of Thikri Pehra (Usually Night Patrolling) in the maintenance of order in society and also to provide security to the community of the area.