As the Chandigarh Police claim to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves with the arrest of two 19-year-olds and a juvenile and recovery of 15 two-wheelers from them, the first woman Senior Superintendent of Police of UT Chandigarh Nilambari Jagadale appears to be putting in place a system of greater accountability towards the general public and seeking their closer cooperation in making the city, its colonies and the villages falling within the jurisdiction of the Union territory safer.
Talking to lifeinchandigarh.com after a press briefing to announce the arrests and the recovery, Nilambari said it is still early days (she joined the force six weeks ago on deputation from Punjab), but she has taken a few steps already to win the confidence of the people, whose safety, security and wellbeing is her business. “The foremost of my priorities is to make the force more accountable to the people we serve. For this the complaint redressal system is being monitored on a daily basis so that there is no pendency, especially of complaints of a serious nature. I am also keeping a close eye on the complaints being submitted in the public window at the police headquarters in Sector 9.
Photo By: Life in Chandigarh
“A string of anti-snatching measures have also been operationalised, including a practice of shifting nakas (anytime, anywhere), especially in the identified most prone areas. With this we have removed the predictability factor,” she said.
The SSP informed that the entire public grievances system was being given a new thrust, with more and regular interactions with all sections of the people at all levels. The market committees and resident welfare associations will be central to all such activities aimed at creating closer bonding between the public and the police. These will not remain ceremonial in nature, she assured.
She said the police force will organize more camps like the dental camp organized for senior citizens recently and these will touch the daily lives of the weaker sections of society in a major way.
During the festive season, though security is the topmost priority, but officers at all levels have been instructed to attend to even other festival-related public grievances like noise pollution. “DSP and SHO level officers have been asked to personally intervene in such complaints and counsel the people against whom such complaints are addressed,” she shared.
lifeinchandigarh.com sincerely hopes that the police are able to improve their image in the eyes of the general public and we are to take pride in them.
