'Be polite but firm' is cops' slogan for Dasara

Training for select police personnel will also help change police identity

Disclosing this  to Deccan Herald, Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal said, the slogan has been derived after taking cognisance of the inputs from Uttarkhand DIG Alok Chandra, at a recent seminar conducted to select police personnel.

The visiting officer, who had the expertise of supervising police bandobust during Maha Kumbhamela and Kumbhamelas recording huge turnout, had delved on police approach towards public, following an invitation from Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal.

“There is a general impression about police that they are rigid, besides using unparliamentary languages, devoid of softness in their routine. Using Dasara  as the perfect platform, attempts are being made to change the subculture”, Agarwal said.

Do’s and dont’s

The select ‘Super 50’ cops irrespective of cadres who attended the seminar will be participating in  ‘Training of the trainers’ (ToT) to be held shortly. A CD in Kannada consisting of do’s and dont’s, graphics and other relevant information will be handed over to the cops at the training. It will aslo highlight the importance of policing and the duties they are bound to deliver under any given conditions, besides giving examples of Dasara programmes venues to help them take corrective measures, against the mistakes of the previous years.

The intention behind selecting Kannada for the medium of instruction, is to teach the cops in the language they are well-versed with. After completing the training these cops will train their colleagues in the stations.

The training will be extended to the cops from outstations deployed on Dasara duty and also home guards.

As the slogan calls for adopting ‘politeness and firmness’ while dealing with public during the ‘Naada Habba’, the onus of  making it a success is on the cops. For example, if a person intends to enter a restricted place, he or she had to be told about the norms firmly without any second thought, but in a rather convincing way. It will be a permanent tactics, whenever there is any public gathering, to control the crowd in an effective way, DCP (Crime and traffic) P Rajendra Prasad said.

Friendly

A separate booklet consisting of general information; be it a tourist centre, budget hotels and others will be given to the cops. It comes handy in helping tourists who rely on the cops in public places to reach places, Rajendra Prasad said.