Missing virtually!

The world wide web has thrown up umpteen possibilities, both of the good and bad kind. The virtual world is always agog with debates, campaigns and movements of sorts.

The Delhi Police cashed in on this and were the first in India to open a Facebook account to interact with the people, who took the interaction to a more meaningful level. They started posting pictures of violators, traffic jams and other problems. It ‘virtually’ is citizen policing at its best.

At a time when most official websites in our City aren’t even updated, one wonders why the Bangalore Police can’t replicate the same here? What’s stopping Bangalore’s top brass from connecting with people virtually?

While a section of the City police say they’ve made their presence felt on networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, another group believes direct contact with the people is better than relying on interactive sites. 

Dr D V Guruprasad, Director General of Police, CID, says he struck upon the idea of starting an account with Facebook and Twitter after his interaction with professionals in the IT and ITES industry. “We have a small group called ‘Help CID Karnataka’ wherein I inform the group about cases we are investigating and we also brainstorm many a case. People also discuss the problems they encounter with police and those that may need police intervention. I take time off to reply to all their messages,” he says. He firmly believes this will go a long way in bridging the gap between public and the police.

Bangalore’s traffic never seems to get better. But the Bangalore Traffic police seem content with the responses they receive and the interactions they have with the public on their website (bangaloretrafficpolice.gov.in). They claim they receive more than 100 responses a day. “Our website is updated five times a day and the public actively discusses issues related to road humps, faulty meters and warped signal systems. When you start an initiative, you must also have the inherent capability to sustain it,” says Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police Traffic and Safety.

Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) thinks direct contact with the people works best. “These interactive sites are only supplements. They can’t be the only route to connect with the people. I have made my phone numbers public so that people can call me anytime and discuss any problem with me. I find that most effective,” he points out.

While the cops think they’re getting closer to the people and connecting better, the people feel nothing less than ‘intimidated’ and think such initiatives are ‘useless’. They think the police must get out onto the streets and educate the people.

Riyas Muhammed, a financial analyst with an IT company says, “Cops getting onto social networking sites don’t help public in anyway. At best, we get updates on the traffic rules,
initiatives and warnings but that’s useless. The cops must focus on campaigns to
communicate with the masses,” he says.

Nouman Kalladathu, working with a BPO, says police presence on such interactive portals hamper one’s freedom. “It gives me a feeling that I am being watched,” he says.  

Pramod Gopinathan, a senior product engineer with Datafarm Pvt Ltd feels that administration of all networking sites must join hands with the police. “The City can then be monitored in a better way and violence of all kinds can be controlled,” he points out.