The LRC has been undertaking a community-police relation project aimed at improving the relationship between the police and the community with the support of the British High Commission. In May 2001, the relations between the police and the communities of Nima, Mamobi and New Town were strained immensely. The immediate cause of this state of affairs was a confrontation between the police and a section of the youth of the said communities leading to various incidents of assault and the destruction of property.
Some activities under this project include:
- Macro level research into the immediate and the more remote causes of the uneasy relationship between communities and the police using simple surveys; semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions;
- Mediation meetings between the police and national level security operatives on the one hand, and community leaders and youth groups on the other hand, over specific incidents that create or have the potential to create confrontations between the two groups;
- Roundtable discussions between the police and community leaders as the first major step in establishing a good relationship between the members of the communities and the police;
- Town Hall meetings, where the police and the community members interact freely; get to know one another; exchange information; get to know the perspectives of one another better; get to know the modus operandi of each other better; ask questions; get clarifications; correct assumptions; etc