City police to rope in private security men

FACED WITH severe criticism over the spate of dacoities in recent past, Bhopal police have decided to enlist peoples? cooperation to prevent increasing crime rate in the City.

FACED WITH severe criticism over the spate of dacoities in recent past, Bhopal police have decided to enlist peoples’ cooperation to prevent increasing crime rate in the City.

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The police have chalked out a plan to rope in retired military personnel, security guards and Nagar Suraksha Samitis for deployment at strategic locations.

After a survey, the City police have broadly identified two areas – commercial and residential, especially in the outskirts that are usually soft targets for robberies.

“We’ve seen that there is a lot of communication gap between the residents, especially in housing complexes and that makes it easier for criminals to take a chance,” said Superintendent of Police, Anant Kumar Singh. 0The SP said the police will be launching the scheme across the City within a month and two persons from each area will be made in-charge of security system of the locality under monitoring.

“We’re not shirking from our duty, but in view of the enormity of the situation , this new system needs to be seriously implemented,” added Singh.

The police have planned to provide a set of uniform and other accessories required by asecurity personnel and post them at locations identified.

“Initially the thrust is on 50-house cluster where private security guards will be posted and police will monitor them. In addition, Dial-100 will be improved so that the moment a call is made on it, our network would get onto the job,” he
said.

The police feel despite rise in crime incidents in the City, there is lack of awareness among residents towards self-protection.

Several residential complexes have been found either with no security guards or guards sleeping during duty hours. In several places, no record of residents is maintained by the security guards at the gate, which often allows an easy access to intruders.

“During night inspections, we found several high-profile houses with no security guards or dogs ,and even after ringing door-bells, no one bothered to respond,” remarked additional SP Deepak Verma.

The ‘Senior Citizens Hotline Service’ launched by the police in association with BSNL for old couples has reportedly received a lukewarm response.