A new municipal police regulatory framework was issued under decree 1067/D on 20 February 2018 that set new recruitment guidelines, code of conduct, and standard operating procedures for the municipal police across Lebanon. The CP project has encouraged municipal police forces to become more professional, firstly in terms of standardisation (same type of equipment), secondly in terms of training through ISF training courses, and thirdly in terms of common regulations (SoP's, Code of conduct and Recruitment Guidelines).

The project should also encourage these municipal police services to become more modernised and closer to the population by fostering and maintaining an effective and useful communication with the communities living in the partner municipalities. To foster this relation, the activity will be assessing the needs to develop a mobile app that can facilitate this daily interaction. To do so, the STE will take into account elements such as the current interaction between the MP and citizens and the services the MP regularly offer to the communities in each municipality. The development of a mobile app will also have to pay special attention to the geographic situation (seaside, mountain) of the municipality, the number of officers in the MP service and the needs of the MP in each municipality. Developing a new technology to increase police-citizens exchanges shall maintain the proximity that already exists and improves the daily interaction.

In any case a new mobile app cannot replace human contact in a community policing concept; on the other hand, technology can be used to determine whether police missions are essential or not.  The priority to maintain a permanent link between the municipal police and the local community will remain.

Background:

Municipal police forces, like other security agencies, face human and material difficulties in continuing to provide their services to citizens.

While the project cannot do much to improve their day-to-day lives or their salaries in these times of economic crisis, it is possible to find alternative solutions for their missions aiming to motivate these officers, as some of them even come to work in offices with no electricity or heating.

The increase in the price of fuel oil deprives several municipal police stations of electricity. It is common that municipal police welcome the public by appointment only at times when it receives electricity from the State or a generator, as the rest of the time the MP station does not have electricity. This situation opposes to the concept of community policing, by which the MP shall receive citizens and work in an office that enjoy the conditions to work, meaning has electricity and is heated during the winter. The installation of clean energy such as solar panels would compensate for this in places.

A supply of solar energy could bring some decency to their working conditions.

Likewise, due to the increase in the cost of petrol in Lebanon, municipalities are leaving their municipal police vehicles in garages or undergoing maintenance, while they need to prioritise their missions and check whether they justify the use of vehicles. To replace the use of vehicles, camera surveillance is an effective stopgap measure that has already been tried out in several municipalities. If the police receive a call reporting a real crime, camera surveillance will make it possible to direct appropriate assistance to a victim or to determine in which direction a criminal has fled. By anticipating this response, we can save lives, protect the environment (forest fires) and catch criminals.

Finally, simple exchanges between police officers and citizens can be dematerialised through a mobile app, without a physical visit to the police station. Thus, reporting repeated nuisances can help build a case; providing a response and an exchange with the citizen can also help develop local policing. That’s why, the CP project is also considering developing a mobile application for large municipalities to facilitate this interaction. If successful, such a system could be extended to other municipalities later.

In short, through this activity and due to the economic crisis and shortage in fuel in Lebanon, the CP project proposes to:

• Facilitate daily communication between MP and citizens through the development of a Mobile App for the MP in targeted municipalities.
• Facilitate the working conditions and environment of MP in targeted municipalities through the installation of video camaras/CCTV and solar panels in the MP stations.

Targeted municipality will be:

• Tripoli

3 - Course of the assignment

Objective(s) of the activity:

1^st Objective (sub-activity 2.3.5.a):

This activity is divided in three-step assessments:

1. Assess the feasibility and economic costs for the design of a mobile App that facilitate regular exchange and communication between citizens and MP in targeted municipalities.
2. Assess the feasibility and economic costs for the purchase of video camaras for surveillance (CCTV) aiming to facilitate the work of the MP.
3. Assess the feasibility and economic costs for the installation of solar panel in the police stations of MP in targeted municipalities.

These assessments shall be conducted between January and March 2024.

2^nd Objective (Tentatively sub-activity 2.3.5.b):

Once the assessments are delivered, the STE hired shall develop a user-friendly mobile app that may facilitate a constant exchange to explain actions of the police and to better react to the needs of the population.

The Mobile App shall be developed between June and October 2024.

3^rd Objective (Tentatively sub-activity 2.3.5.c):

Once assessments 2 and 3 have been undertaken, and based on the financial implications, the project may consider launching a minor contract (max 15.000 €) under this activity aiming to purchase the identified equipment for targeted municipalities.

The purchase of the equipment shall be undertaken between July and December 2024

Expected results.

Deliverables and outputs of this sub-activity 2.3.5 b:

• Develop a mobile application that is clear, simple, professional, well-designed, and user-friendly, entirely in the Arabic language.
• The app should allow extensive customization by the administrator, allowing customization of content, features, and appearance.
• Test the application to ensure it is bug-free upon delivery.
• The app will be designed to be hosted in the cloud.
• The app will have a maximum download size of 25MB to ensure easy accessibility for users without consuming excessive space on their devices.
• Provide an activity report written in English.
• More generally, ST2 must follow the recommendations of ST1 which will be communicated to him subsequently.

4 – Location, duration, and financing of the assignment

Place of the mission

This mission is taking place in Tripoli.

Period of the mission

Between June and October 2024.

Qualifications and skills (details):

ST2 – Software Development Expert

• General Experience: minimum 10 years in the field of Software Development
• Specific Experience: minimum 5 years in the field of software development for EU-funded governmental contracts in Lebanon
• IT Business skills: Based on the initial preliminary analysis, the expert shall compile a Functional Requirements Document to be approved by all parties prior to starting the development of the Mobile App
• High Knowledges on hardware and software, as the expert should establish a list of requirements to be secured by the beneficiary.
• IT Developer as the expert should ensure the full development of the Mobile App
• IT deployment system, as the expert shall complete the installation and deployment of the Mobile App.
• IT trainer as the expert shall train the beneficiary on the operation and administration of the Mobile App