Manko Inspects DFID Project At Isokoko

The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Umar A. Manko and his deputy, Isaac Eke, recently paid a visit to Isokoko Police Station in Agege to inspect some projects aimed at delivering more effective policing services.

The project, put together by the Department For International Development, DFID, and Justice for All Programme, is to sensitise members of the community about a police force that is changing and becoming more responsive to community needs.

Three neighbourhood policing teams have been introduced in the division.

According to the Southwest Zonal Coordinator, National Human Rights Commission, Mrs Mausi Segun, neighbourhood policing is based on the fact that police alone cannot fight crime and need to work in partnership with communities, adding that by assigning small teams of police officers to specific areas or communities, they can quickly build a working relationship and better understand the problems affecting their environment.

She said: “This type of policing, which is an element of community policing, is designed to make the police more visible and responsive to community needs and deliver more effective and accountable policing services.”

The use of maps to plot certain types of crimes that occur was introduced in the division to improve  intelligence gathering and record keeping on suspects and people who commit crimes, including taking of their photographs.

Following the introduction of neighbourhood policing in Isokoko, the patrol teams initially reported that the reaction by the community was negative but that this had changed with time.

One police sergeant said: “When we started patrolling, the community was scared of us. They weren’t sure what we were doing or how we were going to treat them. Now, they are very happy to see us always patrolling their area and are talking to us. It is very good.”

Inspector Mustapha Olusegun said: “If members of the community do not see the officers patrolling, they call me and ask what is going on. They think we might have moved them away. So I tell them everything is fine and that they (the police patrol teams) are out there.”

In respect of the Legal Advice and Monitoring Scheme, Mrs Mausi Segun, said: “The scheme in Isokoko Police Division will be closely watched and we hope to develop this in other stations and then eventually across Lagos.”

—Lucky Lawal