Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has invited citizens to test the response time of the local police on the Suraksha app for women, which has garnered over 2.8 lakh downloads.
“We encourage you to download [the app] and have the power to summon your Hoysala patrol car. Please call your patrol car, we will be with you within 8 minutes. No call will be a prank call,” he said on Twitter.
The commissioner’s tweet has not gone down well with the patrolling police, who say they are stretched thin. They are worried that the tweet will go viral and they will be inundated with calls from people who are simply ‘testing’ them and not really in need of help.
“It will be a nuisance if citizens start calling us randomly. This service offered by police is only meant for emergencies,” said a local police officer.
However, Mr. Rao said that the police are ready with the motto that no call is a prank call , in order to make the service popular and user friendly.
There are around 272 Hoysala patrolling vehicles deployed at strategic locations across the city to attend to calls within the stipulated time.
“There is a demand for an additional 100 patrol vehicles, which, if sanctioned, would further reduce the response time,” said a senior police officer.
Most of the alerts received via the Suraksha app are related to domestic fights, harassment of women, and passengers of taxis accusing the drivers of harassment, a senior police officer in charge of the Suraksha operations said.
“We get around 15 genuine alerts on the app and another 30 from people who want to check the response time. So far, the number of the latter has not increased. As we have been given specific instructions, every call received through this app is taken seriously, “ the officer added.
