E-Paper
Pune city gets 10th child-friendly police station at Range Hills
Child-friendly police stations in Pune city is a joint initiative of the Pune police and Hope for Children Foundation
PUNE The city now has ten child-friendly police stations with the latest one to be added to the list being Range Hills police chowky under the Khadki police station.
A joint initiative of the Pune police and Hope for Children Foundation started three years ago, child-friendly police stations are those where children who come as victims of crimes or witnesses to crimes or as the accused themselves feel comfortable due to infrastructural changes such as colourful cartoons on the walls of the stations. However, the joint initiative is not just about painting walls; it also involves rehabilitating children who are accused of crimes.
Caroline Audior de Valter, who is the founder and CEO of Hope for Children Foundation, says, “Children often have to go to police stations and the beautification of infrastructure helps in bridging the gap between kids and the police. The children that come there might also be victims so illustrations on walls can also help in calming them down.”
Deputy commissioner of police, Rohidas Pawar, says, “Children get scared when they come to the police station so such an area is created where policemen are also wearing civil clothes to help these juveniles adjust well to the environment. We are trying to get this system in all of Pune.”
Apart from the 10 police stations, the Pune police and the foundation have also participated in redecorating child care centres, one such being the boys’ shelter at Yerawada.
List of police stations that are child friendly
Lashkar, Vishrantwadi, Lakshminagar, Yerawada; Range Hills, Khadki; Warje Malwadi, Kothrud, Uttam nagar, Alankar, Dattawadi , Sinhagad road
The joint initiative entails
*Creating child-friendly police stations that are bright and friendly for children to come and register their grievances
*Capacity building of the police in terms of understanding laws, policies, guidelines for children in India and enhancing the police’s mindset for working with children with empathy and care
*Survey in selected communities to understand the issues children and families face, the reason why they commit crimes, face violence etc. so that the police can develop need-based interventions with related departments and institutions
*A child-friendly task force for hand-holding the police in child-friendly initiatives
*Rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law
Source - Hope for Children Foundation document titled ‘Nidar’
