PUNEKARS HAVE HIGH HOPES FROM THE POLICE

PUNEKARS HAVE HIGH HOPES FROM THE POLICE

PUNE: In a first of its kind initiative in Pune city police’s history, Commissioner of Police Dr K Venkatesham has sought to know expectations Punekars have from the police in 2019, as a part of the community policing initiative. 

On December 30, 2018, Venkatesham tweeted, “Decided your #Resolution2019? How about setting resolutions for @PuneCityPolice too? Send in your suggestions with #ResolutionsPuneCityPolice and we resolve to make your security concerns our priority!” 

And it had desired effect. People sent hundreds of expectations/suggestions to the police. A team led by Additional Commissioner of Police, Sunil Phulari, DCP (Zone 2) Bachchan Singh and Senior Police Inspector Ajay Lakade from the Special Branch, who has been designated as coordinator (community policing), sifted through the details and separated all the inputs in 15 categories viz hotel owners, doctors, IT employees, bank officials, students issues, labour unions, Ganesh mandal/Navratra mandal, teachers/schools, senior citizens, women and children, social workers, autorickshaw unions, traders associations and traffic issues. Police officials had also studied the concept of community policing in Canada, Singapore, United States of America (USA), Japan and Australia. 

Speaking to Sakal Times, Dr Venkatesham said, “Knowing people’s expectations is an ongoing process. The New Year gives an opportunity to know the needs afresh and also understand what can be done in the new year. It sets the stage for doing more. The next logical step is implementation and we have already issued instructions to the police stations. Now, we are summarising the outcomes and we will share the details with the public by March.”

Across all categories, one issue is reiterate – there should be more patrolling by police. When asked about it, the city police chief informed that certain steps have been taken for increasing the visibility of police. “We are working on some more initiatives,” he added. 

EXPECTATIONS OF HOTEL OWNERS
- Some hotels in Koregaon Park have asked the police to allow speaker (music) even after 10 pm as people tend to leave the hotel if there is no music 
- Many customers stop vehicles outside the gate, while getting down, which leads to a traffic jam. Police do not allow this which affects business
- Verification of credentials of staff
- Police should talk decently while not allowing parking in front of hotels
- During festivals/public holidays, hotels should be allowed to operate till 1 am
- Many people pay less bill, demand free food by threatening, etc. In such cases, when called, police should intervene

SENIOR CITIZENS’ DEMANDS
- Police should come to meet elderly persons at home often
- Remove encroachment from footpaths
- WhatsApp group of senior citizens for awareness messages, various updates
- Many autorickshaw drivers do not wear their uniform or the batch, so it is difficult to know who they are. Also, many of them refuse to ply and demand exorbitant fares especially at night. 
- Difficult to cross the road as vehicles stop on the zebra crossing itself. 

LABOUR UNION
- The dispute between employees and owners/companies should be resolved amicably instead of going to the court which takes years to give orders
- Labourers going home in the evening carry their daily wage, hence police patrolling should be more in during evenings/night
- Labour union and police should meet frequently
- Every month meeting in slums to keep children away from crime, addiction

TRAFFIC ISSUES
- Action against children driving vehicles.
- Action against vehicles emitting more smoke.
- Watch traffic rule violators on camera and announce it so that the person knows he has been caught on camera.
- Implement traffic rules strictly.

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