Along with the districts, the Warangal City Police Commissionerate — which was originally limited to the tri-cities of Warangal, Hanamkonda and Kazipet and some adjoining rural parts with a population of 13 lakh — has been reorganised.
Now, the commissionerate has been extended to Warangal Rural, Warangal Urban, and Jangaon districts, which has a combined population of around 25 lakh. It has three Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) with 44 law and order police stations, three traffic, two women police stations, and a Central Crime Station (CCS).
Deputy Inspector General of Police and City Police Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu, in an exclusive interview to The Hindu, shared what and how they were doing things.
Having completed a year as City Police Commissioner, what were you major achievements?
Road accidents and chain snatching had us worried. We could control the same to a great extent by moving our focus on them. With respect to road accidents, we came up with the concept ‘Mee Nestam,’ where we got drivers of all vehicles randomly brought to special medical camps. Several camps were held with the help of other agencies on the Mamnoor, Hyderabad, and Narasampet routes.
We even fined RTC drivers for drunken driving. We held special awareness sessions among students of engineering colleges on traffic discipline. All these efforts yielded good results.
On chain snatching, we studied the place and time of the incidents. We succeeded in getting convictions in 11 cases involving one habitual offender.
The increased conviction rate resulted in the decline in the crime rate.
Do you think that overall crime rate has come down in the district?
It certainly has. Never in the past has the police in the district been so friendly. Following out constant efforts and interaction with the people, we have installed 10,000 closed circuit cameras in colonies, shops, and complexes. We are still encouraging people to install the same in other colonies as well. The CCTV cameras have helped us nail the culprits in several cases. Besides, this acts as deterrent.
The big success came when we implemented the concept of community policing where we built an excellent rapport with the people.
We set up libraries in villages, organised coaching classes for competitive examinations for rural youth, and held medical camps. Many youth got police and bank jobs due to this.
We came closer to the people by taking part in Mission Kakatiya in the villages the Police Department had adopted.
Now, I can confidently say the people trust us more than ever.
We get good feedback on our programmes, and in many villages people approach us directly.
With regards to eve-teasing and chain snatching, there has been criticism that the police has failed to keep a check on them.
Eve-teasing is a major concern, yes. Sporadic incidents keep taking place. We have deployed 10 She teams and have booked 486 cases in the last one year.
We even launched a WhatsApp number that helped many women in distress reach out to the police easily.
We cannot stop eve-teasing completely, but we have given women confidence by providing easy access to the police.
There has even been criticism that the police have always supported muscle and money power when it comes to cases involving land disputes. What do you have to say about this?
I agree that this (land disputes) is one of the important aspect of policing, but it is not true that the police support erring persons. We have come up with a concept named Standard Operation Procedure (SOP), where it states what a police officer should do or not do when dealing with cases involving land disputes.
The police come into the picture only when rowdy elements are involved in the case. We usually advice litigants to approach the Court.
The department here is trying to coordinate with Revenue and other concerned departments to help the genuine party, but it is yet to take shape.
What are the other areas of your focus right now in view of the reorganisation of the Warangal Police Commissionerate?
We are trying to improve our personnel strength and equipment. Unlike the rural police set up, we use more modern technology, respond quickly, and are more friendly and disciplined in the commissionerate.
We should live up to the expectations of the people. We are trying to orient ourselves and see that people get oriented towards the commissionerate set up too.
— Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao
