Bengaluru police. File photoThere are certain professions in which the acts of a few can tarnish the image of the entire lot — police is one striking example. Police are often perceived to be inaccessible to people and even lodging a complaint is seen as a cumbersome process. The Bengaluru Police are doing some good work to get rid of this image.
Priya (name changed), is a frequent commuter by bus and owns a student pass. She travels daily to Munnekolala via Majestic. But her journey on April 28 turned out to be unforgettable one, for all the wrong reasons. On the day, the conductor asked her to show her pass, which she duly obliged. He had trouble reading it and despite her explanations he grew furious and started yelling. He accused her of travelling in the wrong route.
The conductor then stopped the bus and told Priya to get down. She tried explaining to him that she travels with the same pass daily and that many inspectors have already inspected her pass. But he remained adamant. He continued yelling and abusing her. When she refused to get down and asked for the traffic police to be called, he snatched her pass away. He even threatened to hit her and throw her out of the bus. Later, Priya filed a complaint with the Bengaluru Central Police station via Twitter. The Deputy Commissioner of Police contacted her and took details from her regarding the incident.
The Dpty Commissioner took the matter up with the Transport Department, who in turn took appropriate action against the perpetrator. There have been many incidents were the Bengaluru Police have been able to give speedy redressal to the public’s complaints through social media.
This model can be emulated in Kerala also, where there is a rise in the number of social media savvy people. With increasing crime rates, ease of lodging a complaint and its speedy resolution is the need of the hour. Even though Kerala Police has made its presence felt in social media, the interactions with the public is minimal. Our police can take a leaf out of the Bengaluru Police’s initiatives to better their services.
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