THTalksBengaluru: Women’s police stations in every division soon

There will be a women’s police station in every division soon, up from the existing two stations in the city, said Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda said.

There will be a women’s police station in every division soon, up from the existing two stations in the city, said Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda said.

Participating in #THTalksBengaluru, a live chat with The Hindu and its readers on Friday (June), he said women’s safety is the priority area for the BCP, and they have many initiatives which they are making women aware of.

“Now, we have plans of opening a women’s police station in every division, like we have a cybercrime police station in every DCP division, as the number of complaints from women is increasing. Under the Safe City Project, CCTV cameras have been put up at 4,100 locations in the first phase, and the second phase is coming up. It is an ongoing project. Around 7,500 cameras will be put up across the city by the BCP,” he said, adding that safety islands are also there now wherein you press a button and the police come to the victim’s assistance. The investigation process will be much faster, he said.

He acknowledged that the police force in the city, with a population of nearly 1.3 crore, is short-staffed, more so compared to other metro cities in India. ”We have been approaching the government, and the government has also been responsive,” he said, adding that this year, over 2,000 new posts have been sanctioned for Bengaluru alone, which will be filled in the next two years.

Asked about policing the ever-expanding city that is Bengaluru, he said, “We are not much in favour of opening new police stations, which have a lot of overhead costs. We want to strengthen existing stations where there is a heavy load of law and order issues and crime. We are creating more women police stations. Now we have only two in the city. New traffic police stations are also being opened.”

Mr. Dayananda said apart from increasing the staff strength at existing stations — including border areas of the city as rural police stations have far fewer staff — technology is a great force multiplier as far as policing is concerned.

“Every CCTV camera is like a policeman on the ground. It is not just CCTV cameras that we have got under the Safe City Project, which is around 7,500. There are many CCTV cameras put up by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, MLAs, councillors, and at the police station level. Under the Public Safety Act, all business establishments are supposed to put up cameras. We are trying to pool in all these which will act as a force multiplier and help in better policing,” Mr. Dayananda said.