Feasibility of Good Governance as a Policing Strategy

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a new policing strategy that improves the police-citizen relationship, is compatible with democracy and has the capacity to promote human rights, and is applicable to any democratic environment regardless of the specific legal system. The methodology of this research is descriptive-analytical in that the elements of good governance (participation, consensus, anti-corruption, transparency, rule of law, equity, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness) are briefly defined, while each element is evaluated as an independent variable in relation to policing strategy as a dependent variable. Moreover the indicators of each element are found and their feasibility is studied. The result of this study shows that good governance elements can be applied as policing strategy and are compatible with new approaches to policing, such as community-based policing, preventive policing and problem-based policing. If these elements are applied at the same time, without undue preference or delay, democracy and civil rights will improve. The relevant laws and regulations show that the Iran’s police force is result-oriented; applying process-oriented elements of good governance, which  optimize police-community relations, guarantees public acceptance of police actions and decisions, and ultimately enhances its efficiency.