Greetings from CHRI!

For most people in the Commonwealth the police are, quite simply, The Law. As gatekeepers of the justice system they are expected to be all things to all people. With security the new buzzword in times of heightened consciousness of terrorism and crime, the police are more than ever looked up to protect persons and property. They must not only uphold and enforce the law and be of service to the population at large but are also expected to be efficient, impartial, clean, beyond suspicion, approachable and altogether a dependable public resource.

Yet, all too often people fear the police. The police in turn feel ill judged by the way people perceive them. Mutual suspicion keeps both the parties defensive and isolated from each other. A great deal of fear and loathing stems from either side because of lack of communication and knowledge. People know little of the organisation, role and functions of the police and the challenges they face in their every day work. The police in turn know little about the expectations of policing in an increasingly democratic environment, or the changing philosophy of policing in a technologically advancing and globalised world. Isolated as they are, the police rarely have a moment to examine and absorb the workings of their counterparts and to know of best practices, innovations and initiatives that are evolving across the world. CHRI's E-magazine COMMONWEALTH POLICE WATCH has been conceptualised to fill this need.

Police forces across the Commonwealth share a similar genesis, history, legal basis, organisation and practice. All this provides a foundation for easy dialogue and strong cross-jurisdictional communication and relevance. There are also interesting diversities within the Commonwealth as after independence, varying national contexts have shaped policing differently in each country. While a few countries have gone about reforming policing from the old regime police force to a democratic police service others have remained unchanged and unmindful of the modern context. Others have been shaped by political twists and turns over which neither the police nor the citizenry had much control.

COMMONWEALTH POLICE WATCH is focused on issues relevant to policing and will reach out to the police establishments and civil society groups across the Commonwealth. It will provide information on the organization, role and functioning of the police. It will highlight good practices in democratic policing, show up unfortunate incidents, indicate laws and trends and point out experiments in policing in an easy to read digestible manner. In time this will help familiarise various police forces with each other and lead to enriching exchanges across borders and amongst police and populations as well.

CHRI and the COMMONWEALTH POLICE WATCH value feedback, suggestions and opinions that will assist us in tailoring COMMONWEALTH POLICE WATCH to fulfill preferences. Our hope is to build a network of police personnel across the Commonwealth who can share information and express their views among their own fraternity and to the public in general.

Wish us good luck for the magazine's success.

Maja Daruwala
Director
CHRI