The Hindu : Kerala News : Strengthening community policing Law & order

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Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
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Kerala

Strengthening community policing Law & order

Community policing is to get a new lease of life from January, writes
Biju Govind.

Efforts are on to strengthen the relationship between the police and the residents associations in the city. From now on, meetings will be held at the local police stations prior to monthly meetings convened by the Kozhikode City Police Commissioner.

“Meetings have already started at the local stations to bring in a systemisation at lower levels,” said Balram Kumar Upadhyay, Kozhikode City Police Commissioner.

Usually the Commissioner holds meetings with office-bearers of residents associations at the Police Club on the first Saturdays. “Residents discuss and collect suggestions to improve the law and order situation in the city. Earlier, either the president or the secretary of the associations took part in the programme. Now representatives from each police station in the city will take part in the meeting,” Mr. Upadhyay said.

The idea was to sort out local issues at the local police station instead of taking them up at the level of the Commissioner. This would not only help the Sub Inspectors of the 14 police stations in the city to interact with residents but also ensure that the public will have access to police stations, he said.

Kozhikode Mayor M. Bhaskaran, who had earlier inaugurated the annual get-together of residents associations, said that the monthly meetings of the associations had helped the police curb crimes particularly burglaries, chain snatching and thefts.

Community policing and traffic clubs at schools would come into force from January. As part of the community policing scheme, all the 14 police stations would be transformed into the Community Policing Resource Centres. Sub Inspectors will coordinate activities with other personnel to interact with residents’ associations. Constables will also be assigned on regular beats to a locality. Each police station will have four to five beats depending on the density of population and the geographical location.

Community Liaison Groups comprising residents will also be formed attached to each police station. This group will take up issues with local police stations. Senior officials will intervene only if these are unsolvable at the level of Sub Inspectors.

Two months ago an intensive training programme was imparted to three policemen each drawn from all police stations in the city. The new system will eliminate corruption at police stations. Senior officials will monitor monthly meetings of liaison groups.

Mr. Upadhyay said he had already convened two meetings of head of educational institutions in the city. Nearly principals and headmistresses of 100 schools participated in the meetings.

The introduction of traffic clubs with the active participation of students is expected to curtail traffic violation in future, he said.

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