Heavy rains in Amtur near Bantwal led to a tree fall on Saturday night. The first person to receive the call seeking help was a constable from the Bantwal Town police station, who had been assigned the beat of that area.
Following the call, the constable rushed to the spot with an earthmover to clear the blockade. “This is an instance of good community connect of police that I’m trying to revive in Dakshina Kannada with the village beat system,” Superintendent of Police B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda told The Hindu .
Mr. Gowda had implemented village beat system during his stint as the Superintendent of Police, Belagavi. Under this system, a police constable is assigned an area where he will be visiting regularly and be in touch with the residents.
The constable will be the sole connect between the residents and the police station. He/she will be dealing with all matters of the station related to the area that include passport verification, police verification, issuance of court summons, crime investigation and petition inquiry.
Impressed with the initiative, the then Director-General and Inspector-General of Police R.K. Dutta issued orders in April 2017 for implementing the village beat system through out the State.
489 village beats
The then Superintendent of Police of Dakshina Kannada Bhushan Gulabrao Borase took steps to have 489 village beats in 14 police stations in Dakshina Kannada.
The focus shifted away from village beat following communal tension in Bantwal that led to transfer of Mr. Borase. His successor Sudheer Kumar Reddy C.H. could not focus much on the village beat system.
Mr. Gowda said that he is now trying to revitalise village beat that connects police with the community in a better way. “We are also boasting confidence of the constabulary in handing issues related to their area,” he said.
Each beat constable is now being given a sim card which he/she will use to be in touch with community members. The police control room will call randomly one of the 40-odd beat constables of each police station every day to know the work that has been done. The police inspector and the Deputy Superintendent of Police will review the work daily. “I will review the work once in a fortnight,” he said.
In order to reorient the staff with the village beat and related reporting mechanism, Mr. Gowda has been holding sessions with the personnel. He started with Sullia and has followed with sessions in Bantwal and Belthangady, respectively. On Wednesday, he held a three-hour session with his personnel in Puttur.
Each beat constable is now being given a sim card, which he/she will use to be in touch with community members. The police control room will randomly call one of the 40-odd beat constables of each police station every day to know the work that has been done.
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