Smart Policing

22nd November, 2021 Polity

Figure 3: No Copyright Infringement Intended

Context:

Indian Police Foundation constructed a survey framework to measure citizens’ perceptions from a perspective of public trust in police.

Indian Police Foundation constructed a survey framework to measure citizens’ perceptions from a perspective of public trust in police.
Trust was identified as the overarching element of the SMART policing vision.
The SMART scores are set on a scale of 1 to10 and are indicative of the levels of citizen satisfaction, a score of 10 being the highest level of satisfaction.

With a perception score of 5.74, Bihar ranked the lowest in police sensitivity.
while the score for Uttar Pradesh was 5.81 followed by Chhattisgarh at 5.93.
With a score of 8.11 and 8.10, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana police topped the ranking.
a majority of citizens [a weighted average of 66.93%] believes that the police are doing their job well and strongly support the police.
It added that the levels of popular satisfaction with the quality of policing was highest in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Kerala, Sikkim, Mizoram and Gujarat in that order.

The SMART Policing idea was envisioned, articulated and introduced by the Indian PM at the Conference of DGPs of State and Central Police Organizations, held at Guwahati, in the year 2014.
It envisaged systemic changes to transform the Indian Police to be: Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Techno-savvy and Trained (SMART).
The strategy combined the development of physical infrastructure, technology adoption, a focus on the critical soft skills and attitudes, as well as a deep commitment to the values of professional excellence and service to the people, considered essential to take the Indian Police to the next level.