Safer policing: None over 58 on PCR van duty, only virtual meets

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal said police stations across the city are “adopting different measures to remain safe on the job”.

With the Covid-19 pandemic further tightening its grip on the national capital, the Delhi Police on Thursday removed all personnel aged 58 years and above from the police control room (PCR) van duty, besides advising all station personnel to have only virtual interactions with the public. The force’s in-house meetings are now being held in open spaces within police stations, officers aware of the developments said.

Over 8,000 police personnel have tested positive for the virus and 38 have succumbed since the beginning of the pandemic. (File Photo. Representative image)

Over 8,000 police personnel have tested positive for the virus and 38 have succumbed since the beginning of the pandemic. At least 432 personnel have contracted Covid-19 until Thursday since the current wave of infections started.

Given that one in every three people who get tested for the coronavirus disease are turning positive in Delhi, and in view of the week-long curfew to contain the virus spread, police personnel are now acting as frontline workers. They are managing containment zones, enforcing curfew norms , arranging oxygen cylinders and rushing Covid-19 patients to hospitals, apart from maintaining law and order.

A senior police officer said, “For now, we have ordered that all persons aged 58 years and above should not be posted on PCR van duty. Compared to other units, the personnel with PCR vans are testing positive for the disease more. The PCR van is the first responder at every spot -- its personnel visit homes when people call 112.”

After a meeting of the police brass on Saturday, all personnel were told to keep sufficient stock of PPE kits because police vehicles are also doubling up as ambulances. The 112 number (police control room) is getting over 150 calls requesting ambulances. In the past 48 hours, there were six cases of police vans rushing Covid-19 patients to the hospitals.

A station house officer of a south Delhi police station said, “Our meetings with complainants are virtual now. This is being adopted by other police stations, too, and it is safer for complainants as well. All they have to do is to inform one of our designated officer at the station gate. They will get a time and phone number for the video call.This is better than visiting the station, which is a closed space. In-house meetings are now being held on the lawns.”

A second senior police officer said that, at the New Friends Colony police station in south-east Delhi, tents have been erected outside the station for visitors. “There is an audio-video system at the gate for the visitor to connect with the station. Every paper (copies of complaints brought by visitors) is disinfected before it is taken inside or handed back to the visitor. Apart from PPE kits, we have also given our personnel, protective eye gear that health care professionals use to shield themselves from the virus,” the second officer said.

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal said police stations across the city are “adopting different measures to remain safe on the job”.