Here’s the much needed good news for residents of Pune city where petty and serious crimes as well as domestic abuse have been on the rise in the last few years. This initiative by Pune Police is absolutely very helpful and very much the need of the hour too!
The Pune City Police have reintroduced two community police- oriented schemes ‘Buddy Cop’ — centred around safety and security of women – and ‘Police Kaka-Police Didi’, which focuses on safety and well being of children.
Under the scheme, a nodal officer is appointed at each police station besides 5 to 15 constabulary staffers and officers who are assigned various tasks as part of the initiative. Each of these cops is made administrator of WhatsApp groups, which also have station duty officers and other senior officers as members. Each group will have 100 to 150 women from various offices and institutions that come under the jurisdiction of the respective police stations.
Officials said that the Buddy Cop will ensure round-the-clock responses to grievances of women and also sensitise them about the importance of filing complaints against people who misbehave with or harass them. In coordination with offices and institutions, the police will also organise sessions to sensitise employees on harassment women face in their homes as well as outside.
As part of the second scheme, each police station will assign duties to both male and female constabulary staffers who will be called Police Kaka (Uncle) and Police Didi (Elder sister). These personnel will coordinate with schools, colleges, coaching classes, sports and other training establishments and other institutions and organise sessions to create awareness among children on cases of bullying, ragging, cyber-crime and sexual abuse.
Police Kaka and Police Didi will also visit residential schools, shelter homes and training establishments to set up CCTV surveillance and other security measures and systems in order to effectively report issues faced by children. The school teachers, authorities and parents will also be made aware of provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Juvenile Justice Act. Police stations have also been directed to monitor security arrangements at each establishment, including CCTV coverage, entry and exit checks, identification and registration of visitors, checks on schools buses and rickshaws used for students’ transport etc, officials said.
