Context Relevance and Community Policing in Lebanon

Abstract

This project tackles the implementation of the community policing model. It focuses on the importance of relevance to the social context in implementing this model. The project takes the Lebanese state security institutions as a case study. This research claims that community policing implementation should be relevant to the context in which it is deployed. Further, it argues that the matter of relevance is not only restricted to society but also includes the relevance within state security institutions that are part of the social context. Although the social context encompasses several aspects, the project focuses mainly on the institutional aspect in discussing the community policing relevance, challenges, and opportunities in the Lebanese context. Furthermore, the project is divided into three chapters. The first chapter covers the theoretical framework surrounding the topic. It clarifies the basic policing definitions and highlights the impact and importance of social context relevance in the community policing implementation process. In the second chapter, the angel is narrowed down to focus on the case of Lebanon. This chapter explains how the implementation process has gradually occurred through exploring the Lebanese experience with community policing since 2008 and through examining the policing legal framework and infrastructure for this model. It further discusses the general challenges facing community policing implementation. The third chapter focuses on the institutional aspect of community policing implementation, and the importance of ensuring relevance within state security institutions. This chapter tackles the importance of introducing quality assurance frameworks within security institutions to ensure that the institution’s policies, practices, and organization are relevant to community policing. Also, the chapter presents a set of recommendations to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) institution that are needed for an efficient and relevant community policing implementation. The project concludes by questioning the “rendering technical” approach that is shifting security issues from the political arena, and also, by presenting a new community policing perspective.