Police village beat system to be revived

Police village beat system to be revived

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Mar 6,2017: In a move to bring the police close to the people, Mangaluru City and Dakshina Kannada police are reviving the village beat system.

Under the village beat system, a constable will be in-charge of a village, while in the city, he will look after a ward.

The constable will visit the area regularly and deal with matters, including passport verification, police verification and petition inquiry.

“He will act like a police sub-inspector of the area,” said Police Commissioner M. Chandra Sekhar. The constable will be the nodal officer from the police station for those living in the village.

“This practice was in vogue when Ajai Kumar Singh was the Director-General and Inspector-General of Police (DG&IGP). This is being revived by Director-General and Inspector-General of Police Rupak Kumar Dutta now,” he said.

Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Bhushan Gulabrao Borase said that the police are refining the present beat system to make beat constables in-charge of a village.

“Instead of giving him a large area, we are making them in-charge of a village only,” Mr. Borase said.

Apart from carrying out verifications and inquiries, a constable will deal with civil disputes from the area that are likely to turn into a law and order problem.

The constable also needs to keep track of local public events and keep higher-ups informed of the developments in his area.

For each village, there will be a 50-member committee comprising people from various sections of society in the area.

The beat constable will be meeting the committee members once or twice every month for feedback. During such visits, the police constable will stay in the locality overnight. The constable will have to sign the register to be kept with the committee, Mr. Borase said.

Mr. Chandra Sekhar and Mr. Borase said that the village beat, which has been tried successfully in Belagavi, will make police more accessible to the public.

“With this sense of belonging, there will be good exchange of information between the constable and the residents,” Mr. Borase said.

The new system is expected to be a reality within the next 15 days.

Courtesy: The Hindu