Enhancing community-police engagement in Jordan

Challenge

Jordan’s national police, the Public Security Directorate (PSD), sought to enhance human security for refugee and vulnerable communities, ​and increase its responsiveness to security needs. It sought to strengthen the bridge connecting itself and local communities to better ​respond to their concerns, such as low reporting rates of domestic violence, especially among women.

Approach

Between April 2019 and October 2021, Siren adopted a problem-driven approach based on comprehensive research, including a statistically ​representative survey on public perceptions of safety in Amman. This guided project design and laid the groundwork for a robust partnership ​with the PSD based around responding to real needs. For sustainable outcomes, Siren aligned the project with the PSD Strategic Plan.

The survey found that over half the population was concerned about their online safety, that 45% of women were concerned about domestic ​violence, and that only a quarter of people would advise a female domestic violence survivor to report it to the police. Additionally, Siren’s ​training needs assessment for the Community Police highlighted a desire among officers for strengthened community engagements skills, ​particularly those related to dealing with people of different nationalities.

In response, Siren worked with the PSD and local communities to design and implement safety campaigns on these topics, targeting six ​neighbourhoods in North Amman.

Through the project, 32 youth and 87 Local Security Council members underwent training on community engagement skills and safety ​initiative design and implementation. We also trained 6 police trainers in community engagement, and upgraded the training ​curriculum to mainstream social inclusion considerations. There was equal representation of male and female participants.

The provision of media equipment to the PSD and refurbishment of community meeting spaces served as enablers.

Outcomes

• 3,938 direct beneficiaries and 15,760 indirect beneficiaries ​reached through five initiatives with supporting media outputs

• 94% of outreach initiative participants reported improved ​perceptions of the Community Police

• 7 community meeting spaces refurbished supporting enhanced ​PSD-community coordination

• Post-project engagement initiatives undertaken by Community ​Police

• Post-project training delivered by Community Police trainers

• Research shaped subsequent projects, such as the “Expanding the ​Protection Space” project (August 2020 – August 2022).