The city police will place pre-addressed postcards and envelopes at public places for women to mail their complaints and suggestions to them.
The Technopark campus, railway stations, bus terminals, bank counters, restaurants, textile shops, convenience stores, ATM kiosks, medical stores, and colleges will soon have containers holding the pre-stamped post cards and complaint boxes to drop them.
City Police Commissioner P. Vijayan said here on Friday that the move would help the police better understand the issues faced by women and take steps to ensure their welfare and safety. The police also planned to hold periodic meetings where women, for instance representatives of railway commuters or sales girls, would be able to collectively raise their problems with law-enforcers.
On the street, the police will deploy their plainclothesmen and women to prevent harassment of women in public places. They will be issued concealed cameras, deployed in public transport buses, railway compartments, and provided unmarked bikes and vans.
To make the city safe for women and children, those with police records, particularly men with a history of victimising women and children, will not be allowed to work as autorickshaw drivers, taxi cab men, transport bus drivers or conductors. The police will take ‘very seriously’ any complaint of women being harassed in public or at their work places or home. The police will verify even anonymous complaints, which fall into this category.
They will accord priority to cases of dowry harassment, sexual exploitation, and domestic violence. The police surveillance camera network will be extended to cover more areas, including weekend holiday spots such as Veli, Aakulam, and Shanghumugham.
The police would focus on the safety of students who go to school and return home without adult escort. Traffic enforcement would not be always on predictable routes and timings and could extend well into the night at pre-selected points.
Those caught driving drunk will have to attend a two-hour class on road safety norms in addition to payment of fine.
Sound pollution
The High Court directions on the use of loudspeakers will be imposed. The police had recently booked three persons, including a street singer, a religious preacher, and an advertisement company on the charge of causing sound pollution at Shanghumugham beach by using public address systems without permission. A special drive is under way against gangsters. The police narcotic enforcement drive will focus on reducing the availability of drugs on the street by targeting peddlers and suppliers instead of users.
