“I have seen a change in the behaviour of the police. They were more courteous when I visited the station for a passport enquiry. The service offered were commendable and I was glad that the perception about the city police is going to change soon,” said Radhakrishna, a techie and resident of Koramangala.
In the last few days, the police administration is claiming that the behaviour of police personnel at the station level has changed drastically. This is because the city police are sending volunteers as decoys to the stations with complaints to rate the police based on their service.
For example, a police officer in the South East division swung into action and took up a suo-motu complaint following a minor fire accident to avoid getting a show-cause notice based on the feedback from volunteers.
As many as 40 police officials have been served notices and action has been taken against them with a remark in their service record .
The citizen outreach programme was launched by the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police, Alok Mohan. As part of the programme, volunteers have been sent to different police stations with a complaint. They will observe the reaction of the police and whether the complaint has been taken and report the matter. Based on the complaint, action will be taken against the officer concerned. If the police officer behaves responsibly, s/he will be identified and rewarded too, a senior police officer said.
It may be recalled that the South East division police launched Jana Spandana programme enabling people to rate the service rendered by the police personnel at the station and report it to the senior police officials, based on which the officials concerned are punished or rewarded .
The basic idea the ongoing programme is to ensure that the police are at the service of the people and should extend any possible help to resolve their issue .
“The police should act on every complaint they receive irrespective of whether the person is genuine or a volunteer,” a police officer said.
Mr. Alok Mohan recently chaired a crime review meeting to supervise the progress of the programme. As many as 20 police officers across the city have been issued show cause notices, and based on their reply, action will be initiated, he said .
The idea is to improve the service and ensure checks and balances, Mr. Alok Mohan, said.
The police have also introduced QR code systems across the city where people visiting stations can give ratings to the services. Based on the ratings, the police personnel will get rewards and punishments.
