Crime in India is higher now than ever before. Hardly a day passes without the Media giving gory details of crime against persons and properties. In urban areas, the elderly, women and children are being targetted for crime and violence by lumpen elements and the businessman is now to worry about kidnapping, extortion and protection rackets. Organised crime has taken firm roots in India. Fear of violence and crime in haunting the populace in urban areas and it is adversely affecting the quality of life. Society is becoming indifferent and insensitive to violence. Police know that traditional methods of crime fighting are neither producing results nor assuring the citizens of their safety and security.

This sorry state of affairs is the cumulative result of the inability of the civil police to perform their basic tasks of crime prevention and detection. Their hands are too full with tasks of related to National Security. Order maintenance work takes precedence over crime work. Instead of taking proactive preventive measures, police now only react to the crime after it takes place. Paucity of man power, lack of scientific skills and equipment, lack of adequate time to work out the crime etc. make them to resort to Third Degree methods resulting in violation of Human Rights of citizens. Added to this, an unresponsive and sluggish judiciary, through long delays and self satisfying legal gymnastics, let go even the few cases worked out by the police. Thus, the entire administrative structure dealing with crime has lost its credibility with the public.

A relatively crime free society is essential for progress. Crime control is not a police problem alone but the responsibility of the entire society. Fear of crime is debilitating. Police try to fight crime through the strategies of apprehension and prosecution. Thousands of people are being arrested daily by the police accused of crime and they come out as freemen as soon as they are produced before the courts. Thus, the strategy of apprehension has lost its sting as a deterrent. As seen earlier, the success rate of police case is very low in courts and consequently the deterrent effect of prosecution is also wearing off. To keep the crime off the streets, police resort to random patrolling and attempt to enhance the quality of response time of police control rooms. These do not add or help the basic task of crime prevention. Constant vigil, presence at all crime prone areas, surveillance over known criminals and such other measures are required for an effective crime prevention programme.

An ideal arrangement would be to involve citizens in crime prevention effort like community policing, neighbourhood watch etc. These require the citizens to devote considerable amount of their time for these activities. People have neither the energy nor spare time. Further, in urban setting, localities have become heterogeneous and the regional feeling of oneness and pride in the memberships of the community is lacking. Thus, there is no motivation for the common man to take on crime prevention duties.

In the absence of citizen’s participation, the entire responsibility for crime prevention falls on the Government. This need not necessarily mean that all services required for crime prevention are to be provided by the Government itself. Expansion of police services beyond a point is not only very expensive but is also counter productive in a democracy. Thus, there is a need to find a viable alternative to police in the area of crime prevention. Privatisation of crime prevention functions is the answer. We are neither propounding a heretical doctrine nor undermining the role of police.

The night watchman and the chowkidar in Residential Colonies; the attendant at Car, Cycle and Two Wheeler parts; the private security man checking our baggages when we fly with Air Taxies, are all precisely doing this function. Most of the industrial undertakings are having their own watch and ward staff. Private security is growing at a rapid rate and assuming many duties previously reserved for police officers. In Metropolises, some of the big private security organisations are well equipped and their men are well trained and look smarter. Is it possible to use private security effectively to save public money on police? Can we develop a complementary relationship between police and private security? What are the potential benefits and liabilities? These are some questions which are to be settled before we involve private security in crime prevention.

In India, private security is developing in isolation of public safety policies and of any licensing and certification requirements. While we have many excellent professionally managed private security organisations, it is a sad fact that there are many security agencies run by Fly-by-the night operations. The central Government should enact a legislation to enable the states and U.Ts. to license and supervise private security agencies. Standards of induction, training, supervision and quality control are to be prescribed and closely monitored. All private security personnel should have an individual license, akin to Motor Driving license, which should be granted only after the individual successfully undergoes a prescribed training programme and is cleared after a background verification. Private security firms should be made to carry insurance policies to make good losses incurred to the parties through their negligence. Once these administrative measures are enforced to ensure the quality of private security personnel, they could be uitlised for crime prevention functions also by the police.

Close liaison should be maintained by the police with private security agencies. Police should realise that private security efforts complement their own in crime prevention. Coordination and cooperation between private security and police should be well structured and on a continuous basis. Annually, private security organisations should hold a meeting with Senior Police Officers and clear their problems and enhance the quality of cooperation. Police could also induct chosen private security personnel as Special Police Officers empowering them to use police power in preventing crime. If taken to logical conclusion, private security agencies can help the police a great deal in Emergency Management, at the time of Natural Calamities and Wide spread disorder.

Mutual trust, respect and confidence between private security and police organisations will help the society and the citizens to keep the crime off the streets. Private security personnel could be used with advantage in spreading the message of crime prevention among the general public.

It is time the Government of India acted in this direction and utilised a great resource which is ready to be utilised in crime prevention.