Terror has become endemic and needs to be tackled at various levels. For police officers, the price of following their conscience is often high; the price of defying it should be prohibitive.
The Police Control Room (PCR) van is normally the first to respond to any crime committed in the city. But antiquated weapons have often come as a hindrance in fighting crime. However, all that could be in the past. The Gautam Buddh Nagar district police have decided to procure the latest firearms to equip PCR personnel to turn them into an independent, efficient and fighting unit.
Senior district police officials said in the first stage, these pistols have been given to PCR staff. This modernisation process is going to continue as the district police wants to replace the obsolete .303 rifles that have been in use since British Raj.When asked about the addition in the armoury of district police, Preetinder Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Gautam Buddh Nagar said, “We have given around 100 smaller weapons to cops deployed in PCR vans. This is a process to phase-out .303 rifles, which were in use since British Raj. We had given indigenous INSAS rifles and carbines. Soon revolvers too will be given to police staff.”
Police claims that apart from being antiquated, these weapons are also heavy to lug around. “A rifle is around 6 kilos, which makes it difficult to tote it on your shoulder. It is also difficult to handle them in case of combat, while sophisticated weapons will give police more edge,” the SSP added. It will also provide them the much-needed firepower to deal with criminals using sophisticated ammo.
Till now only officers of sub-inspector rank and those higher up the pecking order were given pistols or revolvers. Police is also conducting weapons and tactics training at Police lines in Surajpur while firearms training will be done at Ghaziabad, the SSP added.