Never has a Facebook post by a police officer generated as much buzz among Keralite netizens as that of Merin Joseph’s.
Merin, the third Malayali woman IPS officer to join the Kerala cadre, is all set to take charge as the Assistant Superintendent of Police at Ernakulam Rural.
Confirming the news, she posted a message on Facebook that said, “First posting news! Will be heading to Ernakulam (Rural) as Assistant Superintendent of Police - ASP (Under Training). Not to be confused with Ernakulam city (Kochi). Lol. Peace.”
And as expected, the news caught up with the social media though the responses to the post were much measured this time. The last time when there was a rumour about her appointment as ACP of Kochi city, it triggered a spree of ‘likes’ on Facebook.
Following this, her popularity grew to such heights that the post garnered some 10,000 likes while it became a trending topic on other social media platforms such as Twitter and Whatsapp.
Gearing up for festival season
With the Christmas-New Year season round the corner, the city police are gearing up to rein in drunken revelry in the city.
According to City Police Commissioner K.G James, special programmes with focus on the Cochin Carnival and similar events have been planned to crack down on public consumption of liquor to insulate the public from drunken revellers. “In addition to the routine night patrolling, a special three-and-a-half-hour patrolling session has been planned to prevent drunken driving in the morning hours,” the officer said.
The police have urged residents to alert their local police station and members of the neighbourhood watch when they leave their homes on long holidays. It has also sought the help of residents’ associations to help beat policemen cover neighbourhoods better.
Besides, radars will be deployed to detect the speed of vehicles and use digital devices which analyse the breath of motorists to gauge the level of alcohol in their blood to spot inebriated drivers.
A large force of uniformed and plainclothesmen will be deployed in and around Fort Kochi, the hub of celebrations in the city on New Year’s Eve.
The police will also use video surveillance and also plainclothesmen and women to insulate tourists, mainly women, from any kind of harassment.
