Lagos CP emphasises community policing for effective security

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Tijani Fatai, has emphasised the importance of community policing in ensuring the safety of lives and property in the state.

The police boss made the remarks on Thursday during a security stakeholders’ meeting at Area E, FESTAC Town, in the Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos State.

CP Tijani said security cannot be sustained by the government or security agencies alone, but requires the deliberate participation of the communities they are entrusted to protect.

The Lagos State Police boss emphasised that community policing is universal and that it is the only way to ensure effective security of lives and property all over the world.

He further stated that maintaining the progress would require communities to become active partners in the security architecture rather than passive beneficiaries of it.

A safer Lagos, in his view, must be built through a conscious and collective effort, with residents playing their part in making their communities less vulnerable to crime and disorder.

The police boss said, “The police and other security agencies are trying a lot. They need the communities to also cooperate with them. We need information. We are always awake when all of you are sleeping.

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“Community policing is universal. It is practised all over the world. That is the only way through which effective protection of lives and property can be achieved.”

CP Tijani also stated, “We need information. We need your support. Security agencies are trying their best.

“The tentative peace we are enjoying in Lagos is not coming cheap. It is because of the intervention of the government with the donation of the necessary tools.”

The police boss also commended the Lagos State Government for its support to security agencies through the provision of equipment and other needed items.

The Chairman of Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, Prince Lanre Sanusi, who described security, safety and welfare as responsibilities that extend across the entire community, also called for community partnership with the police and other security agencies.

He noted that as neighbourhoods are constantly changing and the demands on security agencies remain substantial, the safest communities may ultimately be those in which residents regard public safety not as someone else’s assignment, but as their own.

The council chairman said, “From young people and traditional rulers to Community Development Associations and other local stakeholders, everyone has a role to play.”

He also stated that the responsibility is not one that can simply be handed to the police and other security agencies and forgotten.