The Pudukottai Police has taken to social media to post details of night patrol officers daily to enable the public get in touch with the officer concerned in case of any emergency during the odd hours.
Information regarding the names of police officers carrying out the night patrols along with their mobile numbers are being circulated in WhatsApp by the Social Media Cell of the district police daily which in turn gets shared at the ground level to reach the general public.
A team of police officers are nominated daily to carry night patrols at the district-level, sub divisional and station levels. The Pudukottai district accounts for a total number of 38 Law and Order police stations, five All Women police stations and four Traffic Units. A senior police officer in the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police has been entrusted with the task of carrying out night patrols at the district-level. Sometimes, two Deputy Superintendents of Police are being put on the district-level night patrols in two shifts. Similarly, an Inspector of Police or Sub Inspector of Police carries out night patrols at each of the seven subdivisions: Pudukottai, Aranthangi, Keeranur, Ponnamaravathy, Alangudi, Kottaipattinam and Illupur. In addition to this, field-level personnel are nominated at the respective station level to execute the task every night.
The idea behind posting the details of the officers in the Whatsapp was to eventually reach out to the public to enable them to contact the officer concerned in case of any emergency situation, says the Superintendent of Police, Pudukottai L. Balaji Saravanan. The Village Vigilance Police Officers nominated all over the district maintain Whatsapp groups in their respective jurisdiction by having some villagers as members and the information pertaining to officers are shared in those groups to reach the grassroot-level.
The Pudukottai District Police authorities have nominated a total number of 398 Village Vigilance Police Officers (VVPOs) to act as a bridge between the respective police station and the general public, says Mr. Balaji Saravanan. Each VVPO covers the mother village comprising a set of hamlets and interact with the residents periodically by visiting the villages.
