Law enforcing authorities have given a thrust to community policing in Tiruchi district in a bid to thwart offences and expand information network.
Activating village vigilance committees in every mother village and each hamlet is the latest strategy of law enforcers to involve the community to ward off crimes and stem any problem from going out of hand.
As a first step in this direction, vigilance committees comprising general public have been activated in 41 mother villages and 89 hamlets falling under the Tiruverambur sub-division which accounts for five police stations – Tiruverambur, BHEL, Thuvakudi, Navalpat and Manikandam.
Each committee in every mother village in the sub division comprises 30 members, while 20 members each have been roped in the committees set up in every hamlet. Identity cards signed by the respective jurisdictional station house officer have been issued to the vigilance committee members.
The vigilance committee members would do night rounds in turns in their respective villages to help the men in khaki in preventing crimes, say police sources adding that all those forming part of the committees had come forward voluntarily to assist the law enforcers.
Similar committees would be activated in the due course in every mother village and hamlet falling under the other four sub divisions – Lalgudi, Musiri, Jeeyapuram and Manapparai – in the district.
A register would be maintained at every police station containing the names and other details of those forming part of the village vigilance committees. Their antecedents would be checked before issuing them identity cards, say police sources. The committee members would be sensitised to the crime prevention measures to enable them take the message to the people. Inspectors would periodically conduct meetings with the vigilance committee members, say the sources. The objective behind activating the village vigilance committees is to enlist the cooperation of the community to check offences and widen information network, said the Inspector General of Police, Central Zone, K. Sokkalingam inaugurating an awareness programme in Tiruverambur sub-division on Friday.
The function featured a power point presentation on crime prevention measures that needed to be taken by the public. It was impossible for the law enforcers in a scenario of rising population to cover every village and hamlet, the IG said seeking the cooperation of the public in helping the law enforcers in preventing crimes in their respective localities.
At a time when criminals had become equally smart and carry out offences within the district and outside, it was imperative on the part of the public to remain extremely vigilant, he said. Though the vigilance committees concept was not something new, it was being activated across the Central Zone to keep criminals at bay, he further said.
