The Bengaluru City Police are all set to reintroduce the police-public beat system to contain crimes such as house break-ins, vehicle theft, and robberies .
Speaking at the ‘Jana Samparka Sabhe’ in Mahalakshmi Layout on Saturday, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda said that re-introducing the volunteer beat at the local level with public support will not only bridge the gap between the people and the police, but also help contain crimes. The initiative is already in force in some areas like Vijayanagar and Chandra Layout as a pilot project and will be extended to other parts.
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Recalling that the city police have had initiatives like ‘Neighbourhood Police’ and ‘Police Volunteers’ earlier, Mr. Dayananda said: “The implementation of a volunteer beat requires public cooperation, so as to solve cases of robbery and burglary at night. There were such initiatives earlier under different names, but were stopped owing to misuse of the initiative.”
The jurisdictional police have involved residents of localities to accompany them for the night beat voluntarily to keep their neighborhood safe. The police have created awareness among residents on the dos and don’ts about their safety. This includes locking the houses while going out and keeping an eye on suspicious activities in their localities.
Apart from the Hoysala patrolling service, the city police are also roping in ‘cheetahs’, the two-wheeler patrolling team into service to be first responders and attend to any eventualities.
