islamabad - Community and service-oriented policing is the only way to win public confidence and Neighbourhood Watch committees would be made more effective to bridge gap between police and people, it was agreed during a meeting held on Tuesday.

The meeting was held for promoting community policing at Sabzi Mandi police station with members of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee (NWC), presided over by SP Industrial Area Liaqat Hayat Niazi. The meeting was attended among others by ASPs, DSPs, SHOs and HROs of police stations in the zone. During the meeting, the participants were briefed about structure, working, objectives and goals of the said committees.

It was emphasised during the meeting to work jointly with the locals through community policing and curb crime, maintain law and order and security by their involvement and feedback.

Representatives of the four segments of community as envisaged by the IGP Islamabad Sultan Azam Temuri were present in the meeting. The members were also briefed about the initiative and were requested to come forward with their ideas as to how the police could liaison with the community to render its functions effectively and project soft image of the force.

The members welcomed the initiative and forwarded suggestions including criteria for community policing membership, awareness campaigns about security and safety of citizens, medical camps and health walks. The meetings ended with the hope to enhance coordination in future and work effectively for better policing.