In its endeavour to reach out to the people and also reduce their grievances, The Delhi Police launched a slew of Apps and initiatives in 2018.

Women safety centric Himmat App was re-launched with added features by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik. Himmat App is available on Google Play is considered to be highly effective in reducing response time.

HIMMAT PLUS APP

The ‘Women Safety’ app launched by Delhi Police in February this year with special feature for scanning the QR codes of taxi, auto-rickshaw and e-rickshaw drivers to verify their details

“The details of taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers at the airport were collected and fed in the server of the app. Each driver has been provided with a ‘QR card’ to be placed in their vehicle which can be scanned by the commuter to establish their authenticity,” said an senior police official.

The app can be used by women commuters coming out of the Delhi Airport and five metro stations — Anand Vihar, Vishwa Vidyalaya, Malviya Nagar, Saket and Nehru Place.

“The upgraded version of this app launched this year has been transformed from an ‘emergency safety’ app to a ‘utility’ app. The process of registration has also been simplified. Now anybody can download it on their mobiles unlike the previous app for which one had to visit the Delhi Police’s website to download it,” the senior police official.

RAFTAR

In an initiative to curb street crime and to get more women to file complaints, the Delhi Police has launched 300 “Raftaar” bikes patrols in the city.

The key objective of the scheme is to ensure better visibility for the police combined with area dominance and effective patrolling, as also quicker response to distress calls in vulnerable and congested localities, with particular focus on those relating to women’s safety.

“Each Raftaar bike is be equipped with hand held walkie-talkie connected with District Control Room and will receive distress calls through this mode. These motorcycles are also fitted with GPRS and entire city is Geo fenced for monitoring their movements from District Control Room and also from Central Police Control Room at Police Head Quarters (PHQ),” said Anil Mittal, Additional Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Delhi Police.

“Raftaar bikes will share the responsibility of already overburdened Police Control Rooms vans in reaching distress spots,” said PRO.

NIPUN

Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik on November 16, 2018 launched the force’s e-learning portal NIPUN and training division website. Through the website, Delhi Police is using advanced technology in imparting in-service training to its personnel. The e-learning portal aims to give online training and information through specialised courses designed by experts in the field.

SWAT

Trained by specialists from India and abroad, 36 women constables from northeastern states have been inducted into the SWAT after rigorous, 15-month training. It is the brainchild of police commissioner Amulya Patnaik which was launched on August 10, 2018.

“These women are second to none when it comes to handling terror strikes and hostage crises in urban areas. In fact, they were rated better than their male counterparts by their trainers at Police Training College in Jharoda Kalan,” said a senior police official.

CYBER FORENSIC VAN

Delhi Police have a set of wheels every bit as cool as the Batmobile, and they are using it to catch culprits unleashing mayhem from the anonymous annals of cyberspace.

With advance gadgets and techniques the van was launched on 5 July for the sole purpose of quick, on-the-spot investigation. The findings of its team are subsequently sent to the investigation officer in question.

The team posted on Van said that having such advanced technology at hand was extremely useful and saved a lot of time. “We can now quickly identify where a rumour originated and apprehend the perpetrator,” said the officer.

“This year various steps were taken by Delhi Police to strengthen the cyber security infrastructure, including creation of District Cyber Cells, training of over 1800 investigating officers and launch of the Cyber Forensic Van,” said Mittal.

Limca Book Of Records

The Delhi Police in November 2018 entered the Limca Book of Records for training over two lakh women and girls under their self-defence programme in 2017. The Delhi Police will receive the award in February 2019.

Started in 2002, the Delhi Police’s self-defence programme is carried out by the Special Police Unit For Women and Children (SPUWAC) and 9,80,456 women under 5,140 programmes have been trained till November this year.

The SPUWAC had written to Limca Book Of Records in February citing they have trained 2,08,125 participants under 989 programmes in 2017.

“The Delhi Police shared press releases, press clippings and data of all the schools, colleges and other places where the programmes were carried out. After authentication by the Limca Book Of Records, the SPUWAC received an email informing them about their achievement,” said said Geeta Rani Verma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (SPUWAC).

“Our target for 2019 is to train around 3.5 lakh women and make them strong to deal with any kind of situation. It took time to create awareness about the programme and once the women started showing their interest, the number of participants increased every year,” said an officer who is part of training programme.

E- MALKHANA

Delhi Police in year 2018 launched E-Malkhana at police stations in three districts (Shahdara, South-East and Rohini). The police have also planned to launch E-Malkhana at the other 10 district police stations by the end of the year.

“Maintenance of malkhana has always been a priority to keep the case property in safe custody and its retrieval for presenting before the court, and keeping it back safely. After digitisation, it would be easy to retrieve the case property and it would also save valuable time and energy,” said a senior police official.

DELHI TOURIST POLICE

Keeping in mind the large number of domestic and foreign tourists’ visiting Delhi every day, and to encourage feedback about their functioning, the Delhi Police in October deployed 15 more tourist patrolling vans at important tourist places which receive massive footfall.

These locations include Terminal-I of IGI Airport, Lotus Temple, Akshardham Temple, Delhi Haat and Jama Masjid.

“Induction of these vans bolstered the strength of Delhi Tourist Police, which is operating 10 tourist patrolling vehicles at 10 different locations, such as Paharganj, Ajmeri Gate, Terminal-3, India Gate, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Humayun Tomb, Rajghat, Palika Bazar and Janpath Market,” said the police official.

POLICE UNCLE

To evade fear of police and develop friendly gesture among children in National Capital, Delhi Police in December launched ‘Police Uncle’, an initiative to reach out to the schoolchildren of Delhi.

“The initiative will not only help us reach out to children across the city but across the country as well in showcasing to them a new friendly face of the police which the majority of our policemen and policewomen actually are. This will also help enhance the confidence and trust of young schoolchildren in police,” said Mittal.

“The initiative has also twin purposes, first to educate children about do’s and don’ts in their social conduct and behavior. Secondly they will be taught about how they can prevent themselves from being victims or offenders,” Mittal added.