City police wake up to social media

October 11, 2012 11:29 am | Updated October 18, 2016 02:13 pm IST - Bangalore

Suddenly the city police appear to have woken up to a powerful weapon: social media. IT City’s tech-savvy denizens have had plenty to say about the police — particularly in recent times — evoking huge response among Bangaloreans.

On Wednesday, Home Minister R. Ashok launched a Police Community Engagement Programme, an online media centre, to what is described as a tool for crisis management and to redress the problems related to crime, law and order and traffic.

Addressing the function, Mr. Ashok indicated that social media was a double-edged sword that could be an effective tool but could also cause mischief, as evinced by the recent scaremongering among northeast Indians in the city.

He said this initiative of the police serves as platform for communication between the people and the police and advised the police to be people-friendly.

City Commissioner of Police Jyothi Prakash Mirji said free speech and social media were an inextricable part of the present generation, which has grown up with Facebook and Twitter.

Striking a note of caution, he said an indifferent police or any other government agency was bound to find itself being discussed in cyberspace, which could lead to serious repercussions on the law and order front.

Though the Home Department and the Bangalore City Police have Facebook pages, this particular initiative would take the efforts to different level in achieving public confidence and building relationships, the Police Commissioner said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.