To check street crime has to be the focus of Chandigarh Police, which will evolve joint strategies with the force of satellite towns of Mohali and Panchkula, newly appointed DGP of the Union Territory, Sanjay Baniwal said today.
"Street crime is something which shakes general psyche, this should be our focus. Chandigarh Police has done a lot of work on this, but we need to do more. In my meeting with the officers here today, I have told them that to check street crime has to be the focus and to evolve strategy for this is their core work. They will have to give their 200 per cent," the DGP told reporters.
The 1989-batch IPS officer replaced T S Luthra, who was recently transferred to Delhi.
Baniwal, who was special commissioner of Delhi Police was transferred as DGP, Chandigarh earlier this month.
Replying to questions, the DGP said, "crime can never be finished, it will be there, but important thing is that we need to be on top of it. I seek everyone's cooperation to make this city safer for all, for women, children and senior citizens."
Underscoring the need of coordinated approach with police force of neighbouring towns of Mohali and Panchkula, the DGP said, "Chandigarh city is a tricity with satellite towns of Mohali and Panchkula and our force needs to have coordinated approach and evolve joint strategies."
Asked if there will be any particular strategy adopted to tackle incidents of chain snatching in the city, he replied, "there is no substitute to men in boots or men on the ground and there is no one-point strategy to dealing with such persistent crimes in the city. As the city grows it starts evolving a character of its own, which makes it difficult to manage these crimes, that's why they keep happening in cities like Delhi, Mumbai. But they can be managed and they need to be managed.."
He said there are technological solutions available and there are management issues in the sense how forces are deployed.
"There has to be a comprehensive strategy which we have to adopt involving local police stations, involving our neighbouring districts, involving our intelligence units," he said.
Baniwal said women's safety and security will be his force's priority area.
"We had conducted a study in Delhi on women safety issues. Safety and security are very different, they have very different connotations. Security is something else and safety is very different. When you talk of women and child safety in a city, it has a very different connotation, it's not just a law and order problem. It is a problem that has shoots in culture...so it is more of social, cultural, psychological and infrastructural issues, it has that dimensions also.
There has to be a multi-pronged strategy, he said.
Asked about challenges which police face from criminal these days, he said, "the challenge is how to beat them at their game. For that, you have to continually innovate upon your strategy to deal with criminals. Their anonymity is now increasing, for example one of the main criminals may be known in certain circles, but you may not know that he is staying next door to you.
"In mega cities you may not know who is your next door neighbour and this must be happening here also because Chandigarh is growing...when anonymity becomes a norm, things become very very difficult for police to trace, but that doesn't mean it is impossible. It may be tough, but we will handle the tough problems," he said.
The DGP also talked about traffic management system.
"We also need to upgrade our traffic management system. Chandigarh already has better traffic system, but to make it even better, it is important that we need to put future investments in terms of technology and better management techniques," he said.
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