Facebook debate: Community involvement

Improving transparency

Gone are the days when one had to wait for someone else to act for his/her cause. Many organisations promoting their beliefs find like-minded individuals just a click away — all thanks to such mediums. With a culmination of different views, the platform has equalled the practice of hitting the streets to trumpet one’s call for immediate action. With the availability of instant information, people have been indirectly involved in democracy building, thereby promoting accountability. Social media has turned into a way to inculcate virtues of transparency in governing bodies and it’s best cited through what happened in Nigeria, regarding calling attention to Boko Haram’s actions.

From Ms Juby Jacob

Dubai

More problems than solutions

While it may seem beneficial, the use of Twitter would lead to more problems than solutions. The offenders involved in the crimes would use the tool to their advantage in order to stay up to date with the latest intelligence from the authorities. Additionally, the tool might also be misused, causing false information about a certain crime to be fed to the authorities, leading to delays.

From Mr Ayman Jaber

UAE

Taking it lightly

In my opinion, using social media to find tips for a case is a brilliant idea! The suspects can and will get cornered, and the only downside is the probability of it being used as a game by some creative elements in society, who could use Facebook and other means to morph their friends into ‘suspects’. In reality, they could cause people to land at the police station or be chased for no reason. After all, social media is used in a lighter vein most of the time.

From Mr Imran Kamzi

UAE

We should participate

On the other hand, quite often, when I try to prevent someone from breaking the rules in public spaces, I am told that I am not a policeman and I should leave this responsibility to the law-enforcing agencies.

However, I disagree. I believe that if a person in a community is able to prevent or at least delay the deterioration in the values of society by actively participating, we will all be better off. Ideally, efficient channels of communication should be established between the administration, law enforcement agencies and the public. Social media is only a tool to achieve that end. The public should actively participate in the issues at hand. Once having done their part, any decision taken or implemented by the administration should be wholeheartedly accepted by the public at large.

From Mr Arish Ehsan

UAE

Beneficial for communities

Community involvement is an extremely powerful way of policing. It not only uncovers a brewing problem before it becomes necessary for the police to get involved, it also brings in a sense of citizenship and keeps a would-be troublemaker in check. Community policing is a cheaper and very effective way to check crimes.

Globally, many crimes go unnoticed, but not because no one has seen it, but because no one cares or dares to report about it. Clues that the bystander can provide may not make sense to him, but it could be a game changer to investigators. An open and interactive society with social responsibility finds this method of policing superior to any external intervention by governmental agencies.

From Mr Kuppuswamy Thiyagarajan

UAE

Potential risks

While social media has the potential to be used as a very effective tool to acquire ideas in cases where there seems to be a dead end, there are a lot of practical aspects that have to be taken into consideration.

Firstly, a social media account of the concerned police department needs to be sufficiently secure to prevent hacking and tampering by the parties responsible for committing the crime. Secondly, discretion must be used by the concerned authorities so that information on sensitive cases is not available to the general public. Also, there may be difficulties faced in sifting through the various ideas that the general public provides and in verifying the authenticity of evidence or witness accounts they may provide.

So, while it has the potential to be used as an effective means to deal with crime, these factors must be looked into before taking any such steps.

From Ms Aasha Eapen

UAE

Public decency

There is no harm in using social media as a large scale public policing tool. In fact, this has already taken effect across the world in one form or another. Although, I do think we should be cognisant of the fact that decency should be the hallmark of all our communications.

From Mr Nadeem Nasser

Islamabad, Pakistan

Done with care

The call for civilian participation and support for maintaining law and order is not something new. Voluntary participation from members of society for reporting crimes and even taking pre-emptive measures to stop potential threats have existed even before the advent of digital communication and social networking technology.

The idea of citizen policing was recently mired in controversy in Kerala, India when youth attempted to take the law into their own hands by manhandling individuals whom they thought to have been engaging in dubious activities. The most recent incident involved a man being roughed up by some local youths who accused him of having illicit relationships with a woman living in the neighbourhood. I hold the view that such cases do not warrant the involvement of civilian policing, since such acts invade the privacy of two adults who voluntarily agreed to have a relationship.

However, considering the few merits of giving police powers to community members with the aim of improving civil order, I think it should come with strict guidelines that delineate the accountability of social policing. Community policing can in fact help combat many vices that could otherwise go unnoticed by the legal authorities. The advantage of social policing also goes beyond cost effectiveness in the maintenance of law and order. It also puts the investigation into a fast track with the support of civilians who actively engage in the process of information sharing. The initiative would also create a sense of accountability among people, which can lead to establishing a safer neighbourhood and ultimately a safer nation.

From Mr V. I. Mohammad Sageer

UAE

Jeopardise the case

No, I personally do not approve of the idea of involving members of the public when it comes to solving crimes. While on one hand, using social media to release clues may encourage citizen policing, it may also alert the criminals and give them leads on the progress of these cases, which would prove a loss for the authorities.

From Ms Fatima Suhail

Sharjah

Many positive possibilities

Social media has two distinct advantages: the traceability and the speed at which information is exchanged. However, the pitfall is that it can be widely misused. With present technological advancements, this can be tackled. Using the media for policing is an excellent idea. A few years ago, students were being trained in India to control traffic with the basic objective of making them responsible citizens. In the same token, we can start the idea of using social media for policing and train people to be more responsible. This would be very useful in disaster management, especially when large scale participation is required. When railway or flight accidents happen, it can require a huge chain of people to rescue victims and this can be accelerated through social media. This would also go a long way in helping reduce crimes and creating more social awareness.

The right approach would be to involve citizens through social media from stage one, which is the formulation of policies, and then including them in all decision-making processes. This would inspire a lot more support and since digital identities are quite transparent, policing can be done with more confidence. In fact, authorities around the world could start Twitter and Facebook groups in order to contribute through the back channel. The contribution by the public is much more efficient and convenient than through social media, and this would generate more participation. The administration is easy and can help the government, police, hospitals, public institutions and charity homes. Therefore, the idea of using social media for the purpose of creating awareness, social participation and policing should be welcomed and implemented.

From Mr Murugesh Sambasadha Sivam

UAE

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