If the Police Commissioner had his way, the city would have had an exclusive division to prevent crimes. But it was not to be, thanks to a turf war as the CCB, presently tasked with handling crime in the city, objected to its wings being clipped. Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi acknowledged that carving out such a division — Crime Prevention and Prosecution to be headed by a DIG-rank Joint Commissioner — had been proposed and it was up to the Home Ministry to create such a post. Sources said it was proposed that the new division be tasked with a crime-criminal watch system.
At present, police stations are burdened with overseeing the implementation of security guidelines at ATM kiosks etc. . Sources say that there is a lack of centralised supervision about the implementation of these guidelines. Police will be further burdened with ensuring guidelines under the proposed Bengaluru Public Safety Act when it comes into effect. It has also been proposed to place this under the jurisdiction of the crime prevention division along with community policing and crime prevention awareness. If stripped of these tasks, the CCB would become an exclusive investigation agency. It was also proposed that the new Joint Commissioner report directly to the Police Commissioner.
(Reporting by K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj)
