Date | Nov 27, 2016:
Seeking police assistance or alerting police on any illegal activity is just a phone call away for the people of the district, thanks to ‘Hello Police’, a round-the-clock public information system that was launched by Superintendent of Police Deshmukh Shekar Sanjay here on Sunday.
This system would enable the general public, especially the youth to alert the police on any illegal and anti-social activity by calling or sending WhatsApp message to 86086 00100. The service would come into force from Monday, the SP said.
“This is an exercise to bring the public close to the police and reduce the gap between the two,” Mr. Deshmukh said. An exclusive control room has been set up at the police headquarters to receive calls and messages and depute police in the concerned police limits to reach the spot and quell the trouble or redress the public grievance, he said.
Those who alert the police or lodge complaints need not fear about any kind of ‘harassment’ as they need not reveal their names, he said adding that the phone numbers of the complainants would be kept confidential with the police. Students and public could alert police on any kind of issue, which they think would lead to law and order problem, he said.
They could also alert the police on illegal sand mining, about noise pollution caused by public address system with cone type speakers, theft or eve teasing. Two wheelers with revolving light and siren have been provided to each of the 38 police stations in the district and two policemen were designated to attend the alerts made to Hello Police.
Soon after receiving the alert, the control room would alert the concerned police station and the policemen would reach the spot in maximum 30 minutes. There would be no slackness on the part of the police as they would have to report back to the control room on action taken on every alert, he said. The complainants would also be given feedback on the action taken, Mr Deshmukh added.
“The system will work round the clock 24x7” he said. Public could also send photos, audio and video clippings, using WhatsApp. The system would be of great help to those who would want to alert the police on illegal activities but fear to approach a police station, he said.
(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)