The Hindu : Front Page : Churches asked to install metal detectors, CCTVs

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Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008
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Churches asked to install metal detectors, CCTVs

Staff Reporter

Police officials say their capabilities have been stretched

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

DANGEROUS TIMES: It appears peace needs protection now.

BANGALORE: A beleaguered Bangalore city police, buffeted by accusations of inefficiency by both the Government and Christian organisations, finds itself strapped for security personnel to guard churches and prayer halls.

If the promise of round-the-clock security is to be fulfilled, the Police Department will need a minimum of 6,400 additional policemen, 800 vehicles and 800 wireless gadgets, a senior police official told The Hindu.

Senior police officials admitted that their capabilities are stretched. They have now asked churches to take security steps such as installing CCTV cameras, metal detectors, burglar alarms, etc. They have also suggested to the church authorities to appoint private security guards.

There are around 800 churches that belong to both Protestant and Catholic Christians in Bangalore. Among them, 400 churches, small in size, are in the limits of South East Division of Bangalore city police. A majority of them are located in and around Ejipura, Koramangala, Vivek Nagar and Austin Town.

An officer of the Bangalore city police, who did not want to be named, said, “It is difficult to deploy a large number of policemen in all churches in the city. We are providing a minimum of three police personnel to small churches. But depending upon the requirement the church, we also provide KSRP platoons.” The city has seven Deputy Commissioners of Police (Law and Order) and all of them have requested churches in their jurisdiction to install CCTV cameras and metal detectors on the premises of their churches. The J.C. Nagar church has decided to install CCTV cameras and door metal detectors.

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