Priority to protect personnel from COVID-19, keep force's morale high: Delhi Police Commissioner

From counselling police personnel on social distancing to maintaining the law and order situation in a city that witnessed a communal flare-up just a few months ago, Delhi Police is fighting the battle against coronavirus for its own safety as well as for the safety of Delhiites, its chief SN Shrivastava said on Thursday.

Shrivastava said the force has various Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place for the personnel right from guiding them on taking precautions to their treatment in case they test positive.

Over 800 Delhi police personnel have tested positive while five have so far lost their lives to coronavirus.

The Delhi Police Commissioner said the number of COVID-19 cases are bound to increase in the force as the figure for the entire national capital increases. But he stressed that it is important that the pandemic does not affect the force's morale and also doesn't lead to fatalities.

Shrivastava said Delhi Police is taking good care of its personnel and they have been praised for being involved in humanitarian work on the ground.

"We are taking the best care of our policemen. All the policemen are feeling that they are being looked after by their seniors," he added.

Listing out how police personnel are getting exposed to the virus, he said Delhi Police is deployed at various key points like quarantine centres, private and government hospitals, containment zones to ensure law and order.

The force is also keeping a close watch on those who have been advised home quarantine.

In order to ensure that the police personnel feel they are "being looked after well", there are various Special Commissioner rank officers tasked to look at various aspects of ensuring the well-being of the over 81,000-strong force, he said.

Insisting on the importance of taking care of the individual health of police personnel, he said it is also very important for the force's morale.

"Delhi police while fighting coronavirus for itself, is doing so for others as well. And at the same time, maintaining law and order, crime prevention and many other functions that police is called upon to do," he said.

Recalling the riots that broke out in Northeast Delhi in February this year, the Commissioner said there are always chances of a communal flare-up because of previous history.

"We had riots in February so we are keeping a close watch and are taking legal action. We are also keeping very close eye on the developing situation," Shrivastava told PTI over phone.

Talking about his department, Shrivastava said, "We need to take care of specially the older people who are not maintaining as good health as they should be. Or if they have an illness like diabetes. So we are especially focusing on such people and attending to them. If somebody gets sick and is in hospital, we need to ensure he is been taken care of so that he recovers from the illness. This is the primary target."

To strengthen the immunity of its personnel, Delhi Police has distributed Ayurvedic medicines from AYUSH to each of the over 81,000 of them while in the second round 15,000 police personnel were given Ayurvedic medicines.

The Police Commissioner has also advised his personnel to "opt for homoeopathic medicines" and "also do physical exercise and practice yoga to build immunity".

The police personnel have been strictly told to maintain social distancing among themselves and to not get exposed to unknown people at home and the work space.

A detailed SOP has been prepared in this regard for the staff in police stations, PCR, traffic and the armed police, he said.

By holding detailed webinars and counselling sessions, Shrivastava himself has been in touch with his personnel.

"I have been myself interacting with the policemen at the ground level and the police station staff through video conferencing. I also encourage all my officers to interact with as many police officers as possible so that they all are aware, understand the best practices so that everyone is in sync. They know what the department is doing with regard to prevention of spread."

Another detailed SOP has also been prepared regarding the measures to be taken in case a police personnel falls sick.

If a personnel shows any signs of illness, they need to immediately report to a police station health officer or unit health officer to get tested, he said.

In case of medical emergency, they have to immediately contact their SHO or the unit Inspector who has been made responsible for admitting them to hospital and showing them to a doctor. On doctor's advise, they are either sent to home quarantine, institutional quarantine or admitted in hospital, he said.

The progress of recovery of the personnel who have been tested positive for the virus is being monitored by a dedicated Special Commissioner of Police rank officer who monitors the health of each individual who was corona positive whether he or she is in hospital, at home or in institutional quarantine, he said.

Another Special CP rank officer is responsible to ensure those police personnel infected with the virus get beds in hospitals in case there is difficulty in admission.

"I myself have spoken to some places to get beds for Delhi Police. No policeman is denied a bed in the hospital. There is another special CP rank officer who is responsible for counselling, conducting webinars. All police stations are very clean, there are all equipments like temperature guns and sanitisers," he said.

The police personnel on the field are provided PPE kits, gloves and masks.

"There is a need to balance things. How much we expose ourselves and do the work that is required of us, and the same time we do not affect the health of the policemen in a big way, this is the main challenge that we are addressing," he said.