Phone-in programme has helped to solve many problems: City Police Commissioner

Phone-in programme has helped to solve many problems: City Police Commissioner

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 2, 2016: Reports state that the weekly phone-in programme has gone a long way in improving city police get ground-level feedback for their work and effectively address problems affecting citizens, City Police Commissioner M. Chandra Sekhar has said.

Two months since its inception, PC Sekhar said the calls had helped the police reorient themselves in addressing problems related to one-way traffic violations, use of shrill horns, and other traffic issues. It has also helped in addressing the problem of sale of cannabis in the city.   “This unfiltered feedback from people, who find it difficult to meet us in person, has helped us a great deal. This medium has brought us closer to people,” he said.

He got the idea of a phone-in programme after attending a similar programme organised by a Kannada daily newspaper.  “It really helped me learn aspects [about city issues] that I would never get to know,” he said. The phone-in programme started from August 5.

Every Friday, Commissioner or Deputy Commissioners of Police K.M. Shantaraju and M. Sanjeev Patil are available between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. to listen to complaints. Citizens can call either Mangaluru 2220801 or 2220830.

PC  Sekhar said they had been getting a fairly good response. On an average, 20 calls are made every week. “The highest has been 26 calls, and the lowest has been two,” said Patil. A record of each call is kept and the grievance is noted. Every Tuesday, a review is done of the actions taken on grievances.  Among the positives of the programme, Mr. Sekhar said is the action taken to prevent one-way traffic violations at Yekkur. “We learnt of this problem at the programme. We have effectively solved it by booking cases and placing barricades to prevent violations,” he said. With callers giving specific details of problems, the city police are effectively dealing with problems such as shrill horns and haphazard parking by city buses.  Patil said a few days ago, they arrested a man associated with selling cannabis based on information they got from a caller.