Car thefts: Alertness of cops at checkpoints tested

Senior officials of the Gurugram police said they are taking measures to curb rising car thefts in the city by testing the preparedness of the personnel deployed at checkpoints during the night

Senior officials of the Gurugram police said they are taking measures to curb rising car thefts in the city by testing the preparedness of the personnel deployed at checkpoints during the night. Officials said that the success rate of personnel on the ground in spotting stolen cars increased to 80% so far in April, from 20% in March, in an initiative wherein a car bearing the registration number of a stolen vehicle is driven through checkpoints.

HT Image

Officials said that teams performing poorly in the test were warned of strict action, as the city is witnessing at least three car thefts per day, with as many as 299 car thefts reported till March. Last year, 268 vehicles were stolen till March, as per the data available with the police.

KK Rao, the commissioner of police, said, “We planned this exercise and hired private cars. We informed the police control room and shared the registration number of the car, which, we said, was stolen.”

Rao said that during the initial days of the initiative, launched in the second week of March, the cars passed through without much trouble, despite the information being relayed by the control room. “We started taking action, following which the teams became alert and started checking suspected vehicles,” he said.

The city police decided to crack the whip on vehicle thieves, as the number of thefts continued to rise. More than 50 people from Nuh, Faridabad, Delhi and Rajasthan, were arrested from January to March for stealing cars.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that gangs involved in the crimes often are from nearby districts and the vehicles are mostly sold in northeastern states and Uttar Pradesh at knockdown prices. “We are equipped with the latest technology, GPS and wireless communication devices, which are provided to officials deployed throughout the night at 147 spots, and in 79 police control room vans and 123 patrol bikes,” he said.

Officials said that for the exercise, they are analysing the spots through crime mapping analytics and predictive system, which accesses real time data from the police control room.

Rao said that a cop calls the control room claiming to be a robbery victim and shares the direction the car was taken in, following which the control room relays the same to the personnel deployed closest to the spot. “Even the colour of the car and description is shared to make it easy to identify the car, despite which they were not able to get hold of the drivers, initially,” said Rao.

Rao said that teams deployed at as many as 74 of the 114 police posts were warned over their poor performance, while 40 teams were rewarded for spotting the stolen vehicles. On repeated failure, personnel were shuffled and some even sent to Police Lines, following which fresh deployment was processed for the spots, said Rao.

Rao said that the exercise not only checks the alertness of the personnel but also the response time to crimes. “The force needs to be attentive and ensure it is doing its best. People have high hopes from the police and if we delay in taking action, their faith in us will weaken,” he said.