‘If u blame the rape victim coz her clothes were provocative, U must also blame the bank that was robbed coz its contents were provocative.’
This was not a reaction from an activist reacting to incidents of violence against women, but from a law enforcer. This was a tweet by Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner of police, north, in New Delhi.
In the era of social media and micro blogging, the Chennai city police largely seem to be far away from it. Chennai City Police (@chennaipolice_) is a protected and unverified account. Traffic police @cctpolice has over 6,000 followers. However, tweets from it are mostly links to its Facebook page. A blog of the city police, which provided a platform for interaction with residents, was launched over a decade ago, but vanished soon after.
The city police and its officers — juniors and veterans alike — could take a cue from their counterparts in other metros. The Bengaluru city police are among the more active forces on Twitter. Senior officers, including commissioner M.N. Reddi, have verified accounts (@CPBlr). Their traffic and crime wings share useful information, action taken on complaints and status of twitter petitions too.
“The onus is on young officers, and we also need a dedicated team to look after Twitter accounts and website maintenance,” a senior officer said, speaking on the absence of Chennai police on social media.
Going forward with Facebook
You can now log on to the Facebook page of the Chennai police, message a complaint and expect prompt action.
Sources with the Chennai police claimed complaints are attended to in three days, without the complainant’s identity being revealed.
Though the city police, unlike their Coimbatore counterpart, do not have a website, they are looking at increasing their social media presence and reaching out to more people.
The Facebook page, started in May 2013, has so far received 300 complaints as private messages. Nearly five lakh people have viewed the page and 50,000 have liked it. “Most of the complaints pertain to law and order issues. A few college girls have complained about online harassment,” explained a source in the police commissioner office.
The page also serves as a platform for uploading press releases and creating awareness about prevailing crimes.
“We have tied up with a few mobile service operators to send out text messages on safety tips to those who have liked our page. An exclusive social media lab has been formed to improve the online presence of the Chennai police,” added the source.
The personnel of the social media lab also monitor Facebook pages for content that can cause social unrest. “We deactivate such accounts,” the source said.