The Community Police in Qatar works to spread awareness about the risks of crime among community members, including both citizens and expatriates, through regular visits and sport and cultural programmes , a senior official observed at the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice yesterday.
The remarks came during a discussion on the topic, “National Approaches to Public Participation in Strengthening Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”, from ambassador Dr Ahmed al-Hammadi, representative of Qatar.
The programmes aim to introduce rules and regulations prevalent in the country and raise public awareness about crime prevention, improper behaviour and the spread of a security culture. The Community Policing Department has earned the respect and appreciation of embassies and community heads and this has contributed to boosting confidence and creating understanding, he stressed.
In addition, there are government organisations such as Qatar Foundation for Social Protection and Rehabilitation and Qatar Foundation for the Protection of Children and Women, which work towards the protection of targeted groups.
International conventions and conferences in the field of crime prevention have stressed the importance of civil society and involvement of the community has become an essential component in preventing all kinds of crimes.
The official further noted that “despite the fact that the justice system in Qatar allows each defendant in a criminal offence to be represented by a lawyer before the courts, and if he is unable to appoint a lawyer, the State bears the lawyer’s expenses, the Criminal Justice, police, judiciary and prison are no longer able to achieve the modern security concept alone as they have themselves proven their inadequacy in combating crime”.
The high-level event was chaired by Johannes Duhan from the United Nations Secretariat.
Delegates from Thailand, Germany, Japan, Norway, Canada, Algeria, Brazil, China, the US, France, Libya and Sudan shared their views.
Delegates at the 13th UN crime congress.
