Thirteen policemen in the Coimbatore District Police unit are undergoing a 15-day de-addiction programme, starting Monday, at a centre in Singanallur in the city. Last week, a 52-year-old special sub-inspector attached to the Coimbatore District Police unit was found inebriated on the Sungam Bypass, during the late hours of the day. His picture went viral in social media and the police department attracted widespread criticism.
To avoid such awkward situations in the future, the Coimbatore District Police have initiated the de-addiction programme.
A senior police officer said that they have identified a total of 63 policemen out of the nearly 1,000 policemen in the district police.
“Thirteen of them were severely addicted. The rest 50 were average and mild alcoholics,” a police officer said before adding that this excluded occasional drinkers.
The policemen were identified with the help of the sub-division and station-level officers and intelligence personnel, about a month ago. Every policeman is a valuable resource and we don’t want to waste them, the officer said. Most of them were aged above 35 years. The major causes for their addiction are attributed to family problems, work related stress and difficulty in quitting the habit.
