For cops, 2013 - a year of new

Police launch new initiatives and novel programmes

 Barely a day left to welcome 2014, the year 2013 was a period of ‘new’ for the city police with the launch of a slew of initiatives to curb both crime and traffic violations, besides manning the law and order.

From the recently launched Abhaya, an exclusive programme to ensure the safety of elderly citizens, the police came out with many people friendly initiatives.

Police Commission M A Saleem who has a PhD in traffic management succeeded K L Sudheer as the commissioner on July 3. A fortnight after assuming office, the department launched a drive against helmetless two-wheeler riders. In a span of 22 days, the police had booked 24,000 offenders collecting a penalty of Rs 24 lakh (Rs 100 imposed on first time offenders). Initially, it triggered protests, especially at N R sub-division.

Camera trapping

It was followed by the enforcement of ‘camera trapping’ method to rein in traffic violators. It was a prelude to the opening of Traffic Automation Centre, a first of its kind here, that was commissioned on September 15.

The centre with dedicated staff will monitor the traffic movements on roads with the help of 30 cameras installed at prominent traffic junctions and roads, besides collating the list of violators caught on camera. Eventually notices will be served to the offenders through post. Simultaneously seven cobras (two-wheelers) were launched to enable police on traffic front to reach the spot during emergency.

The sentinels also joined the league of Facebook (FB) users launching the exclusive account on October 22. Also, the refurbished website giving impetus to interactive portal, took off. This was followed by the resuming of monthly complaints day on third Saturday and Sunday for law and order, crime and traffic woes respectively. Though the programme had been launched during the tenure of then Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal, it had been abandoned in the later days for reasons known to cops.

Abhaya, another first, emphasises on the safety and welfare of senior citizens. Earlier to its launch, police surveyed the population of senior citizens in their limits, mostly widows, widowers, couples and individuals residing all alone. After the survey, over 800 such vulnerable section of the society was found including Krishnaraja, Devaraja and N R police sub-divisions.