Residents and cops join hands to combat crime

Residents and cops join hands to combat crime
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Police is to receive a shot in the arm in combating crime, with residents coming forward to assist them.

If the plans work, groups of residents will soon patrol the streets along with policemen, keeping watch over their localities.

Encouraged by the response to the Open House meetings initiated by Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh, the North division police are now working out a system to include public in night patrol.

“In the meetings, many of the residents said that they would like to join us on night rounds. We are considering the idea of deputing one constable and a few members of public on each beat. The residents told us that they would prepare a roster,” DCP North, Syed Ulfath Hussain informed this website’s newspaper.

Over the last two weeks, Open House meetings have been conducted in JC Nagar, Yeshwanthpura and Malleshwaram sub-divisions. The meetings will soon be held in the remaining zones in the city by the zonal DCPs.

With a view to check burglaries, the police have also requested the working section of the public to inform them of their absence in the houses. Daytime burglaries have been on the rise, especially in Vidyaranyapura, where houses were discovered ransacked by the time working couples returned home in the evening.

“We had deputed 10 men every morning only to keep a check on locked houses and be alert. It helped bring down the number of burglaries, but cases are still being reported,” Hussain said, admitting that it was difficult to maintain such vigil.

The DCP will conduct the meetings once every two months while monthly meetings will be held at the police station level.

“It is more an interaction to improve police work and to solve the grievances of the public. If they have suggestions which are good, we would implement them,” he said.

However, these measures do not pose a novelty to the city since the police had earlier launched the Neighbourhood Watch programme, which involved the active participation of residents to reduce crime and enhance security.

But the idea could not be sustained. Of late, interactions between police and public have been limited to peace committee meetings held only during a festival or special occasion.