Institutionalization of Research, Development and Innovations in Policing Practice

The DG Research and Policy cell was established in the police headquarters with a mandate to do evidence based policy work in evaluating police performance, documenting innovations, implementing new approaches and doing systematic action research to experiment with changes in practice before scaling up a new strategy and using large scale improvement in orientation and service delivery.

This cell was established in November 2016 and soon it reached out to practice in various field units and specialized centers. The cell was started with the foresight and an evidence based police reforms vision of the then DGP Shri Rishi Shukla, which was sustained and institutionalized after his tenure by successive DGs and this is why it stands strong with its multifarious role in improving police image by informing evidence based policy and practice in policing.

A collaborative approach was undertaken to institutionalize evidence based policy by collaborations with leading universities and think tanks interested in governance, law enforcement and justice sector research and innovations. The Police Officers specialization, training and orientation to scale up their performance was also set as a criteria for establishing this cell. The cell opened up gates for sustainable police reforms and improvements in police practice.

Institutionalizing Transition from Anecdotal Policing to Evidence led Police Policy

The Police work must be policy based and this policy base must be evidence led and must not succumb to the sub culture of anecdotal policing where the policy decisions might get governed by limited views and perceptions had been the basic premise upon which the cell stands. It promotes openness in the police culture of work, democratic and professional orientation and an expertise based policy interventions. This led to many collaborative efforts in linking the police and various police job roles to think tanks and Universities which could inform police work and practice and raise the performance bar for the officers and improve the culture of police service delivery.

Collaboration with Abdul Jameel Poverty Action Lab –JPAL/ MIT

As a first collaborative effort of DG Rsearch Cell, an MOU was signed with MIT based action research institute –Abdul Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) in July 2017. Nobel Laureate Prof Abhijit Banerjee Director of the JPAL visited DG’s office at Bhopal and initiated a Randomized Control Trial on the effectiveness of Women’s Help Desks at Police Stations. These help desks were called URJA (Urgent Relief for Just Action) Help Desks. This research collaboration between JPAL and MPP led to a three year project under which first a district pilot was done which was scaled up to assess this approach in 12 districts. After evaluating its success as a model, the project led to a scale up in all 52 districts and 700 police stations in the state. This research led practice is a shining example of evidence based police practice and policy orientation.

Collaboration on Best Practice Exchange with Sheffield Hallam University UK

The Collaboration on Best Practice Exchange started with Sheffield Hallam University by Mr Shukla through the DG Research Cell, lead to British Officers visiting India through Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and Indian officers visiting the UK to learn about UK best practices through Nottingghanshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire Police Services. It also lead to a regular Mid Carrier Training Program located at SHU.

Gulmohar : Victim Centered Police Service-Model One Stop Crisis Center- Gulmohar,

Victim Centerd Policing was given a great impetus by Mr Shukla to build up a workable model through experimenting with certain best practices in this area of service delivery and testing its sustainability. This led to a model one stop crisis center at Vidisha called Gulmohar which is based on a collaborative approach where multi agency partnership of the Police with other government departments and charity organizations working in the area of victim justice led to clubbing of resources and efforts to make a sustainable model for victim relief and wellbeing customized to victim’s needs and protection. Among the ranking of best one stop crisis centers this crisis center always ranks at the top since past three years and this is getting replicated in other districts as well.

Innovations and Best Practice Review Center for Police Service Delivery

Within the DG’s Research and Policy Cell, the Best Practice Review Center within the DG’s Research and Policy Cell . This involved review of best practices and innovations started in the various districts and examining them at the headquarters level for their sustainability and their replication as a state level program. Multi agency approach on Women’s Security called Smarth Sangini, and hearing of public grievance through open forums promoting police transparency and accountability called Jan sunwai and Jan Samvaad were evaluated and then through an evidence based policy implementation- implemented in the entire state. This greatly improved police service delivery and community centricity.

Student Internship Program: Community Led Programs promoting Students Internships

The community outreach was extended to students and utilized this platform of college students connect as an important area of connecting the police to the youth and improving on the interface of the police with educated youth who could then interact with the police , develop an appreciation of the police work through an exposure to the work they do in the field and at the police station level through these short internships and take small projects to improve police service delivery and citizen involvement in neighborhood security, victim relief, technological interface, traffic management and legal literacy of the public . Around one thousand students interned with the police in different districts. This is a successful model and running well in many districts.

University Involvement in Police Training and Research

The Research and Innovations initiatives have led to an approach of opening up police training institutions for the universities to inculcate a culture of openness and understanding of legal, social and governance mandate of the democratic policing from a multi dimensional perspectives where universities could give a great thrust on improving police public interface and in depth understanding of the police role in a democracy. An MOU with Ambedkar University led to revamping of the police syllabi which intertwined university led education with police training for senior officers, An MOU National Law University Delhi led to adding a Police reforms Component in Police Training with a short module moving to NLU through the state Academy and another MOU with Tata Institute of Social Sciences- TISS led to the faculty exchange and Public Service, Ethics, Gender Justice, Human Rights and Constitutional Governance elements in police training getting imparted to the police officers recruits by some of the best experts in the field.

Major MOUs with the Universities and Think Tanks Include:

• National Law University Delhi
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai
• IIM -Indore
• Oxford University –Said Business School
• University of Virginia- Democracy Initiative
• National Law Institute University Bhopal
• DAVV-Indore University
• Sheffield Hallam University UK- Deptt Criminology
• SPA- School of Planning and Architecture
• IDFC-Institute Mumbai- Police Research Divison
• Commonwealth Human Rights Institute New Delhi
• Action Aid – Development INGO
• FXB Suraksha India- Gender Based Development Organization
• British High Commission - Governance Related Projects
• UNICEF, UNDP.
• Ambedkar University -MHOW Indore MP
• Jagran Lake City University
• KSF- BBA- Kailash Satyarthi Foundation