Maharashtra police go paperless, digital is their new normal during Covid-19 pandemic

Statements recorded on WhatsApp, paperless administration, station houses outside the police station — these are just a few of the changes that Covid-19 is bringing

Statements recorded on WhatsApp, paperless administration, station houses outside the police station — these are just a few of the changes that Covid-19 is bringing to policing in Maharashtra. The state has one of the largest police forces in the country and has reported the most Covid-positive cases since the outbreak reached India.

HT Image

While Mumbai Police has already begun implementing some of these changes, all administrative processes at all police stations in the state are expected to go online by the end of October.

“Covid-19 changed the demands and expectations of the police force,” said director general of police (Maharashtra) Subodh Jaiswal.

Going forward, all administrative processes, including human resource management (like leave applications, budgets) will become paperless. “By the end of the month, we have planned to make all administrative process of policing across all police stations in the state go online. Not only will it cut down on the voluminous files, but it will also significantly reduce the manpower that was being used till now,” he said.

Jaiswal said the shift to online is expected to increase efficiency and communication between different levels of police officers.

“For example, if a senior officer wants a progress report of a situation on ground, he would be able to directly connect with his subordinate and call for the ground report on the spot. This not only would drastically change the response time, it will also help in better coordination in the force,” said Jaiswal.

After the lockdown was imposed in March, the police was given additional roles like ensuring no crowds gathered; enforcing guidelines like wearing masks and maintaining social distance in public spaces; making regular announcements through the public addressing system; curbing Covid-related rumours; and assisting the civic body. With police officers working alongside frontline workers, the number of police personnel who contracted Covid-19 started rising. Dyaneshwar Chavan, additional commissioner of police (central region), Mumbai Police, said, “Seven hundred and fifty policemen contracted Covid-19 in the first three months of the lockdown, which induced a fear among others.”

Till date, 24,581 police personnel have contracted Covid-19 and of them, 21,862 have recovered, while 257 (25 officers and 232 constables) lost their lives to the infection. Chavan said, “The recovery rate has helped to boost the confidence of officials to come back and carry out their duty without any fear.” Those above 55 are being assigned desk jobs to ensure their chances of being exposed to Covid-19 remain low.

As a safety measure, those police personnel who are above 55 or have comorbidities were asked to remain at home since they would be more vulnerable to Covid-19. This meant there were fewer police on duty. “To deal with this situation, we had to change our working format and adopt an approach to multitask,” said Diwakar Shelke, senior police inspector at Dadar police station.

Efforts were made to remove possibilities of contracting Covid-19 through contact or surface transmission. Shriram Koregaonkar, senior police inspector from Santacruz police station, said, “Earlier, we used to arrest any accused without hesitation. But now we are cautious and ensure that we are wearing gloves, face shield and regularly use hand sanitizers before and after arresting an accused.”

Some stations have even changed their layout. Raju Kasbe, senior inspector from Samta Nagar police station, said, “Station house is where complainants come to lodge complaints, so we shifted it outside the police station and made a mark about eight feet from the bench where the officer sits to receive complaints.”

Mumbai Police said that it has seen a change in the way the public interacts with police during the lockdown. “Our behaviour towards local residents underwent a change. We helped numerous citizens by distributing food, groceries, emergency passes or by helping them get medical aid. These acts have seen our bond with citizens strengthen. People are now more willing to help us with crucial information,” said Manjunath Singe, deputy commissioner of police (zone 8), Mumbai Police.

The pandemic has also pushed the police to move from paperwork to electronic files. Rajvardhan Sinha, joint commissioner of police (economic offences wing), Mumbai Police, said, “We have started recording statements of people through Zoom or WhatsApp. In some cases, we send a questionnaire through email and record their answers as their statement.” Charge sheets will also be filed electronically in the near future. “Since courts have started video conferencing facilities and adequate infrastructure is being allotted for electronic filing, we are in the process of submitting charge sheets through e-filing. We also plan to record statements of witnesses in criminal matters electronically, modalities of which are being worked out,” said Jaiswal.

During the lockdown, maintaining law and order has been relatively easy as citizens were restricted to their homes. As the lockdown is lifted, police will have to carry out Covid-related duties in addition to their regular roles. Chavan said a spike in crimes committed was likely, especially with growing unemployment, and Mumbai Police was prepared to tackle such an eventuality. “We’ve begun training officers to prevent robberies, property and body crimes. Squads like anti-chain snatching and anti-property theft have been mobilised to ensure citizens, who are now venturing out of their homes, are safe,” said Chavan.