To increase policing on city streets and not let shortage of police staff become a hindrance, Noida Police has decided to rope in local volunteers to patrol different areas in the city, under a community policing project set to be launched by month-end.
The local volunteers will be termed as special police officers (SPO) or police mitra. They will share their details and contact numbers with the residents and meet them regularly.“An area will have five police mitra. The criteria to become a police mitra is that he should be an Indian and aged between 18 and 70 years, who has good
contacts in the area. He should be from a non-political, non-criminal background. Their proper verification will be done and fair track record will also be considered while appointing them,” said SSP Yogesh Singh, who has been appointed as the project’s nodal officer.With the announcement, the law enforcement agency has decided to include 15 SPOs at beat level and 45 at the police station level. The SPOs will be trained by police and act as bridge between locals and the law enforcement agency.
Police said that the move will not help in increasing day-to-day policing while it will also help in tackling the problem of shortage of policemen in the district. The SPOs along with beat police will patrol in their respective field and will share details with the locals.Under the neighbourhood watch programme, a ‘community liaison group’ will be created. Al Banerjee, Deputy General (DG) of UP Police, has also issued a letter in this regard in which it has been asked to start community policing as soon as possible.
This apart, police will also increase interaction with the residents and meetings will be convened with the residents and RWA every week. The security guards of residential and industrial units will also be part of this system. “If things go according to plan, community policing will be started this month,” said an official.
A senior police official said that the decision was taken keeping in view increasing cases of snatching, theft and robbery in the residential sectors of the city. “We have decided the move with the help of residents of the city. SPOs will be trained properly and if required we will provide other tools of policing to them also. Once the active participation of people will increase, it will help in curbing as well as solving cases of crime,” said Singh.
Singh said women action groups too will also be formed and assigned specific areas to address crimes against women.