The 18th Annual "INTERNATIONAL POLICE EXECUTIVE SYMPOSIUM"

Theme: “Community Policing: Theoretical Problems and Operational Issues”
Will Be Held in Kochi City (Cochin), Kerala, India
Hosted by the Government of Kerala and the Kerala Police Department
Program Co-Chairs: Arvind Verma, Ph.D., (former IPS) and Kam Wong, Ph.D.
Where:  LeMeridian Hotel, Kochi
When: October 27-31, 2010

This conference explores and expands the area of community policing (CP) that has not been systematically, still less comprehensively, explored, i.e., what are the theoretical problems, operational issues, and practical difficulties confronting police officers, up and down the chain of command, when they do their rounds.  For example:

Theoretically, in the present global world the concept of community must be expanded to account for new forms of global community- Facebook, Tweeter, chat forums, blogs, discussion groups, specific interest based groups are creating new communities that go beyond a small geographical region. What are the ‘problems’ that should define police responsibilities and functions in view of this global community?

Operationally what kind of problems – personal vs. communal, political vs. social vs. economical – are the police willing, able and ready to engage; What functions, practices, style and model constitutes the core of COP- how do similar genres such as ‘working with people; making citizens co-producers of their security; neighborhood policing; problem oriented policing; Friends of police; police citizen academies’ etc structure these operational issues?

Practically, how do police go around solving problems of one type or another; what are the difficulties encountered and how are specific solutions adopted by the organization? Inherent in these questions are the issues of management models, administrative rules and human resources along with format of training, supervision and performance measures that need to be considered for implementing COP

The conference is characterized by the following parameters:
(1) The conference adopts a bottom up vs. top down approach to understand COP problems and issues.
(2) The conference is devoted to eliciting views from police practitioners and front line officers, broadly defined;
(3) The conference favors a case study approach based on real life police experience in the street in defining issues, demonstrating problems, detailing solutions and animating debates.  

PANELS
October 28, 2010 - Thursday
"Operational Problems and Issues with COP"
Local Keynote: CP Manoj Abraham
"Policing New Communities"
IPES Keynote: Distinguished Professor
Session 1) “Historical (local) Development of COP”
Papers in this session will discuss historical development of COP – conceptually, theoretically, institutionally, organizationally and operationally, in respective countries or regions.  The focus is on indigenous ideas and local practices, or what COP unique domestically and internally.
Session 2) “Comparative COP Theory and Practice I: Varieties of Communities”
Papers in this session will focus on comparison, i.e., identifying similarities and noting differences, of COP theories and practices between various types and kinds of communities; urban vs. rural, real vs. virtual, majority vs. minority, etc.   Papers should discuss how local conditions define and influence COP ideas and practices.
3) “Comparative COP Theory and Practice II: Convergence and Divergence Between East and West”
Papers in this session will focus on comparison, i.e., identifying similarities and noting differences between East vs. West COP theories and practices.  Comparison should, as much as possible, place COP theory and practice in a broader historical, philosophical, ideological, cultural, social and political context.
October 29, 2010 - Friday
Session 4a) “Theory vs. Practice of COP”
Papers in this session will focus on operational problems and day to day issues arising in the course of implementing of COP theory, imported or home grown, in the field.
Session 4b) “Theory vs. Practice of COP”
Papers in this session will focus on operational problems and day to day issues arising in the course of implementing of COP theory, imported or home grown, in the field.
Session 5) A Critique of COP: Voices from the field.
Papers in this session will focus on “voices” of front line manager and officers as to how COP has affected their work, positively and negatively. 
Session 6) Doing COP – Problems and Promises – Case studies.
Papers in this session will focus on success and failures of COP at institutional as well as street level, with the use of case studies to illustrate best practices and problem situations. The objective is to compare how different agencies/officers tackle similar COP problems.
7) Future of COP
Papers in this session will focus on looking back as a way of looking forward.  What were the lessons learnt with the adoption of COP in ones nation – organization – community?  What is the future of COP locally and globally? Theoretically and operationally?