Coimbatore City Police to offer pre-remand counselling for first-time offenders

Coimbatore City Police to offer counselling to first-time offenders to prevent future crimes, with support from various professionals.

Aimed at reforming persons, who are getting arrested for the first time for a crime, the Coimbatore City Police will soon start offering counselling to them.

Under the initiative, the police will offer counselling to the offenders before producing them in the court for remand.

City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan on Monday inaugurated a training session in the presence of Deputy Commissioners of Police R. Stalin (North), K. Saravanakumar (South) and R. Sughashini (Headquarters). Two officers each from 20 police stations, cybercrime police station, Central Crime Branch I and Central Crime Branch II and one officer each from all the four all women police stations in the city attended the training. Mr. Balakrishnan briefed them on the objectives of the initiative.

Psychiatrist N.S. Mony, Nagamani from the Social Welfare Department, Coimbatore Central Prison psychiatrist Rajendra Kumar, probation officers Bharathi and Manikandan and juvenile probation officer Devaki addressed the police officers on various aspects of counselling first-time offenders.

As per the new arrangement, police officers will counsel first-time offenders to avoid them getting involved in crimes later.

Under the initiative, the city police will also request authorities of the Coimbatore Central Prison to accommodate first-time offenders in separate cells when they are serving judicial remand and convictions.

According to the police, there were several incidents in the past, wherein first-time offenders were mentored or lured into crimes by history-sheeters, with whom they served prison terms. During the investigations of several cases, the police had found out that first-time offenders developed friendship with persons involved in multiple cases and later engaged in crimes together after being released on bail or completing the prison term.