Cops opt for sports to turn youth away from crime

They have identified youth from 42 slum areas and organise tournaments for them

The South Division of the Bengaluru City Police have come up with a programme that increases trust in the police force and aims to keep the youth away from crime.
“Most of our constables are middle-aged men and there is a disconnect between them and the youth. This makes it difficult for us to maintain good relationships with the community and hinders us from helping them as much as we could otherwise,’ says Rohini Katoch Sepat, DCP (South Division).

Their solution is sports. Till date the police have organised five tournaments of sports like cricket and kabaddi, where the youth teams have played against the police teams. The police force have identified 42 slum areas with vulnerable youths and have set up police strength clubs to improve outreach. The project began two months ago and they have conducted over 160 area meetings. The first one was in Kumaraswamy Layout, in the first week of February.

The initiative is in collaboration with the national skill development corporation and under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

“While crime prevention drives have been going on, we needed a way for the youth, both unemployed and temporary employed, to trust us to help them. We turned to sport as it appeals to wider demographic. We had to cover in terms of age, caste, gender and more,” the DCP tells Metrolife.

Most participants in these tournaments are between the age of 14 and 24, with kids who are entering PUC, those who have failed PUC, SSLC graduates and college graduates.

While there is larger participation from men, the tournaments are being conducted for everyone. They conducted a floodlight kabaddi match for women on Sunday.

When asked whether the police could guarantee employment, the DCP said that there is an employment rate of 80 per cent and above.

“The scheme offers vocational courses in fields like mobile repair, mechanics, security and even for retail employees. The interested youth can choose the course which appeals to them and we will facilitate it,” she says.

She adds that the success of the programme depends on this choice and interest and the end goal must be gainful employment.

“Moreover, the tournament and the outreach programme hopes to cull the fascination towards gundagiri. We hope to establish a connection with them so as to break this cycle,” she concludes.