Thiruvananthapuram: Amid widespread criticism about recurring incidents of unruly behaviour and inappropriate conduct of police personnel, Kerala police chief Loknath Behra has issued a circular seeking to provide immediate training in decorum and public interaction to cops.
The training begins from Tuesday at 11 am Tuesday.
The circular sent to district police chiefs spells out how cops should behave during vehicle inspections and other occasions.
The training should not end in a day, instead it should he held frequently, says the circular.
What the circular says
Existing circulars provide detailed information about what should and what shouldn't be done during vehicle inspections.
Apart from these, the training should include practical aspects too.
Cops should be given practical training and taught how to deal with helmetless riders and speeding motorists during various circumstances.
Highway patrol staff as well as traffic police and other personnel who handle traffic from the police stations should be included in the training programme.
Incidents that prompted the move
Two bikers died in an accident in Alappuzha when the highway police chased them earlier this month.
At Kottakkal in Malappuram, an Assistant Sub-Inspector who was deployed in the traffic control for the governor's visit, assaulted a retired railway station master who ended up with a broken nose.
Another widely-circulated video of a Sub-Inspector (SI) posted at Erattupetta showed him showering abuses on bikers for not wearing a helmet.
There were also several instances of cops taking sides in local issues.
No suspension for abusive SI
The SI posted at Erattupetta police station who abused youths for riding bikes without wearing helmets won't be suspended from service. Instead, SI Manjudas will be trained in good conduct. He has been sent to the KAP Camp in Kannur's Mangattuparambu for behavioural training.
At the camp, Manjudas will be trained in better public interaction.
Besides, he will also be trained in appropriate behaviour during inspections and with the public who come to the police station.
On March 16, two youths were caught and taken to the police station for not wearing helmets. When they wanted to know where to keep their bike, the SI started showering them with abuses.
Opposition goes ballistic
Thiruvananthapuram: Amid rising public outcry about unruly behaviour of cops, the opposition too targeted the LDF government in the assembly on Monday.
Replying to an adjournment motion in the absence of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, law minister A K Balan didn't have answers when Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan listed out the atrocities committed by the police personnel.
At a district meeting of the Police Officers Association, power minister M M Mani too targeted the cops. He said that cops shouldn't toe the line of the ruling party.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan or any other leader won't ask cops to behave in an unruly manner or fabricate cases, he said. He asked cops to show some spine to say 'no' when asked to do something that is not right.