Intensive police patrolling, installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in residential localities and market areas and enhanced vigil by residents have resulted in a dip in crime in the city’s southern suburbs.
Statistics speak for themselves: of the 410 crimes, including 24 murders, reported in 2013 in the St. Thomas Mount police district that broadly covers the whole of the southern suburbs, 390 cases were solved, 215 persons convicted and property worth over Rs. 1.71 crore recovered.
So far this year, the number of crimes reported stands at 331, including 16 murders. Of them, 298 have been solved and property worth Rs. 1.19 crore has been recovered.
P. Saravanan, deputy commissioner, attributes the dip to identification of vulnerable areas, intensified vigil by beat officers and extension of patrolling to more areas. “In a new strategy to combat early morning crimes, assistant commissioners inspect their respective police station limits between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. to ensure policemen are on the field to prevent morning walkers and office-goers from falling prey to crimes,” he says.
More than 220 CCTV cameras have been installed in residential localities, and it helps police in their interrogation. The southern suburbs of Chennai, once part of Chengalpattu (east) police district, were carved out as Chennai suburban commissionerate in 2008.
The St. Thomas Mount district was created when it was amalgamated with the Chennai City Police three years later. Unlike in the city, police stations in the suburbs have to maintain vigil over a number of villages and newly-developing localities in remote areas.
