Police stations in city to become people-friendly

Coimbatore: The next time you visit the local police station, don’t be surprised if a constable with a smiling face welcomes you warmly, leads you to a seat and proceeds to jot down your petition by asking polite questions.City police commissioner V Balakrishnan has instructed station receptionists to be friendly to complainants.To monitor the receptionists in the 15 police stations, CCTV camera feeds from the stations have been connected to the offices of the police commissioner and deputy commissioners. “As many as 15 ministerial staff and 15 police personnel, mostly women, were appointed as receptionists and they are working from 9am to 9pm in two shifts. We have provided laptops to all receptionists,” he said.Complaint management software has been installed in the laptops. “The receptionists upload the petitions in the system and advise petitioners to meet the respective police officer. The officers and police control room staff can view the petitions on their systems. The control room staff will call up the petitioners to check if they were treated well at the station. Petitioners can rate their experience and also give rating, the highest of which will be 10,” the officer said. “If a station gets less than eight marks, the station house officer (SHO) would be asked to appear before the senior officer. Police personnel in poorly-performing stations will be given counselling on handling petitioners.”Deputy commissioners of police and assistant commissioners of police (ACPs) have access to the CCTV footage, and can also watch it on their cellphones.