The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Go back to the basics, policemen told

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Wednesday, Dec 10, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Go back to the basics, policemen told

B.S. Ramesh

Plan in force to make policemen more accountable

The plan, introduced this month on a trial basis, envisages awarding of marks
Police observing Crime Prevention Month which work relates to the plan

BANGALORE: “Go back to the basics of policing. Implement as many of them and earn your reward.”

This is the message that the State Police Headquarters in Bangalore has sent out to all the districts and other police units.

Concerned over the widening communication gap between the police and the public and also the growing mistrust of the department, Director-General and Inspector-General of Police R. Sri Kumar has put into action a plan to not only bridge this gap but also make police officers at all levels more accountable.

Mr. Sri Kumar told The Hindu that a metric system had been brought into force to measure the quality of work of each police officer in the State.

Introduced this month on a trial basis, the plan envisages awarding marks (in a maximum score of 1,000) to police sub-inspectors (PSI), circle inspectors (CPI), deputy superintendents of police (DySP), additional superintendents of police (ASP), superintendents of police (SP) in districts and deputy commissioners of police (DCP) in cities.

He said the police had decided to observe December 2008 as Crime Prevention Month and the scheme would mainly entail work relating to this subject.

The topic or category of crime could be changed each month but the marking system would remain.

To ensure that the police have an added incentive to perform, rewards would be given to them.

The prizes for each category — PSI, CPI and DySP — would be decided at the State-level committee of top-ranking police officers.

Basics

Mr. Sri Kumar said that the reason for coming out with the scheme was to remind the policemen that they cannot forget the basics of policing.

He said some of the traditional policing methods such as patrolling on beats, railroads and highways, night rounds, formation of crime squads for specific offences, community policing, computerisation of crime records, monthly crime review meetings at police stations and frequent interaction between police stations, nakabandi at day and night are relevant even today.

He feels that if the police get the basics right, they would become a more efficient and professional force and there would be less criticism against them.

He said a circular had been sent to all the district headquarters and other police units, asking them to implement and adhere to the instructions given to them regarding crime prevention.

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