JOIN USSuresh is new city police chief
T R Suresh took charge as the city's seventh city police commissioner on Monday.
A native of Shivamogga, Suresh was serving as the deputy inspector-general of police, Fire Services, Bengaluru, prior to his current posting.
He joined the police department as DySP in Vijayapura in 1991 and served as DCP in Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Hubballi-Dharwad, Mysuru, Additional SP of Belagavi and SP in Kogadu, Raichur and Tumakuru. A 2003 IPS officer, Suresh has also served as DCP in Bengaluru North.
Speaking to media persons after taking charge from the outgoing city police commissioner M Chandra Sekhar, he said people-friendly policing will be on top on his agenda.
He said he will give thrust on maintaining law and order and protection of public properties. He said he will need some time to get to know the city better. The good work carried out by Chandra Sekhar will be continued, he said and added that wherever there is scope for reforms, he will bring in reforms after holding talks with his colleagues and citizens.
“It is an opportunity to serve the people of Mangaluru,” he added.
‘Learning experience’
Earlier speaking to media persons, outgoing city police commissioner M Chandra Sekhar said, “When I first came to Mangaluru as police commissioner in the first week of January 2016, the city was not familiar to me. With the support of the people of the city as well as my colleagues, I was able to discharge my duties effectively. Though some anti-social elements tried to influence the public with false propaganda on social media and create problems in the society, their efforts were defeated.”
He said that social media monitoring cell has been upgraded in the police department. This has helped the police to reach the culprits in a better manner. Upgrading the cell was also successful in understanding the mood of the people regarding some major issues in the commissionerate jurisdiction, he added.
To a query on interaction with an official from Facebook pertaining to a case related to social media, he said the Facebook official had visited Mangaluru recently and interacted with the police on the issues pending.
On phone-in programme initiated by the department, Chandra Sekhar said that it was a learning experience. “A lot of ground-level issues were brought to the notice of the police and helped in monitoring it. This also increased the interaction and coordination of the police with other stakeholders like Mangaluru City Corporation, RTO and NHAI.”