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But where's the ghost? Unfulfilled hopes Whither Indian Police?

Coping With Crime: A Citizen's Guide

Phoolan Devi's murder has sent shockwaves down our spine. That this could happen in the heart of the nation's capital has rattled even the stoutest of hearts and triggered off the ever-contentious debate on the state of crime in Delhi. It is easy to be cynical and blame the establishment for this incident, as some have done. It is more difficult to analyse it dispassionately and come to a broad conclusion as to whether this could have been averted at all. The unfortunate happening -- the slaying of a reformed young offender with great promise of service to the underprivileged -- gives me a chance to highlight some harsh ground realities.

It is appropriate here to refer to a fascinating
book on crime I read recently. Written by George L Kelling of the New York City Transit Police and Catherine M Coles, a research lawyer and anthropologist specialising in urban issues, the focus of Fixing Broken Windows is on prevention of crime, a subject of great relevance to urban populations all over the world. The authors believe that, by controlling disorder in public places, one can have a reasonable control over crime (If a broken window is not fixed quickly, the message is that nobody cares for order in the locality and there is an open invitation to commit crime there with impunity). Kelling and Coles add that a stronger police-community partnership will somewhat improve the situation and help the police draft and implement new crime prevention strategies, especially one that enforces 'new standards for community behaviour.'

This approach is refreshing because traditional theories about crime such as poverty, unemployment, parental neglect, etc, do not bog the two authors down. These are factors which cannot be wished away. What we can possibly do is reduce the opportunities for criminal behaviour. This is what criminologists refer to as target hardening. My focus in this column will be to enlighten the average citizen on how best to protect himself or herself against crime. I am sure this is germane to what happened to the hapless lady MP who, according to some press reports, got down from the vehicle outside her house, instead of driving into it as usual, and became the easy target of an inimical gun.

But, before we understand target hardening, let us have a cursory look at the current crime scenario in the country. The world over, no government likes to admit that crime is on the increase on the mistaken notion that any such trend is a poor reflection on its ability to govern. A police proclivity not to register all the crime that is reported to them is informally encouraged by the executive. Hence crime statistics -- except possibly in the US, UK, Japan and a few countries in Western Europe -- are always suspect. Underreporting by the victims themselves and suppression of crime by the police are widely prevalent. In reality, the volume of crime goes up with a rise in population and increased police manpower. Hence, if any agency reports a drop in overall crime or an extremely stable number for several years, we have to look upon the phenomenon as abnormal. This is what has happened in India.

According to Crime In India, the official publication of the National Crime Records Bureau which collects figures from all over the country on behalf of the ministry of home affairs, there was a one per cent drop in Indian Penal Code offences during 1999 (the last year for which statistics are available). In fact, nearly 30 per cent of these are cases under the Special and Local Laws (such as Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Arms Act, etc). It also says that violent crime and property crime also declined by seven and six per cent respectively.

I am certain neither the media nor the common man is willing to buy the above statistics. This is because of the latent fear of crime that haunts many of us living in big cities. I firmly believe this needs to be tackled first, before we launch a major offensive against crime. Ironically, in the US, it has been seen that this fear is most pronounced among the elderly and women who take the maximum precaution against crime and are, in terms of numbers, less victimised.

Fear of crime is best handled by neighbourhood organisations in partnership with the police. This has caught on in some parts of the country, but many more areas will have to be covered. Meetings held by such bodies will have to explain actual incidents, which have occurred in the locality and how these could have been avoided. For instance, it should be brought out with examples as to how prompt reporting to the police of the spotting of strangers, unusual movements of vehicles at odd times, the existence of houses of ill-repute, etc, could greatly help in reducing criminal activity. The emphasis should be on the value of extreme alertness in spotting events that are out of tune with the culture and traditions of a locality. Police instructions to citizens at such meetings on how to react to a crime can also infuse confidence in the latter.

Crime mappings done by the police invariably highlight which areas are most crime-prone. This vital information is best communicated to the community by the police through neighbourhood association meetings. If the police are remiss in not sharing such information, it is incumbent on the part of civic bodies to demand and disseminate it. Advising citizens to keep off certain spots at specified times is one way of reducing fear and preventing crime. The press can also play a major role in coming out with periodical analyses.

There is a general pattern to violent crimes, especially the ones that occur at home. These are normally committed either by live-in servants or casual visitors such as carpenters, electricians, plumbers or salesmen who have an easy and possibly authorised access to homes. Admitting the latter category inside when there is a sole inmate, either an elderly person or a woman, is an invitation to crime. There is a need to educate the public on the perils of entertaining such individuals.

With respect to hiring live-in servants, some police forces have a system of antecedent verification. This process, though, has not been all that successful. Either the public does not bother to avail of this service or police enquiries are superficial. Possibly, there is a case for strengthening units in the police, which will undertake such verification thoroughly for a prescribed fee. Many private detective agencies offering to do this have themselves been highly inefficient or suspect.

Strengthening the physical security of homes is yet to gain momentum in India. While public commercial buildings have spent time and money on this, private homes are yet to take advantage of advances in modern construction engineering. Doors and windows need special care. The police must goad architects and civil engineers to devote enough attention to safety. Inexpensive methods of strengthening structural security are available and these will have to receive attention even at the drawing stage.

In apartment blocks, locking systems operated from individual flats are becoming increasingly necessary. These are no doubt expensive. But, over a course of time, the economies of scale should bring the costs down. Meanwhile, there is evidence of a greater awareness of the value of screening visitors to apartment blocks. In many cities, the hiring of securitypersons for this purpose has become common. The police need to encourage this practice.

Women in India still nurse the traditional fascination for jewellery. Their ostentatious display has often provoked dastardly crime. Also, needless flaunting jewellery at home attracts the attention of domestic servants and casual visitors and has led to physical attacks or burglaries. The recommended prescription of keeping jewels in bank lockers and using them only on occasion has still not gained wide acceptance. In brief, the concept of target hardening is violated with utter callousness. Here again there is a case for educating the public.

Similarly, the practice of carrying large sums of money encourages robbery. This is preposterous at a time when banks have become extremely consumer-friendly and bank instruments are so easily purchased. Naïve are victims of crime who spurn credit cards and prefer to carry hard cash at their own peril.

One can keep adding to this list of preventable offences. The point is that we can greatly reduce the opportunity available to criminals. The problem does not require extraordinary analysis or effort. It only calls for some imagination and enterprise. The police can at best be driven to produce ideas and disseminate them to the public. The major effort will have to come from the community, who will have to organise themselves more intensively. The time and money spent are well worth the objective: that of more than a semblance of control over crime. It is a war against crime and it can be won only at a cost. A defeat will only make our life 'nasty, brutish and short.'

R K Raghavan