Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Apr 7: DG and IGP Om Prakash on Tuesday April 7 launched the mobile app and website of the Mangaluru city police at the police commissioner's office here.
Explaining about the app and the website, DCP (law and order) Santosh Babu said, "This is an Android app and is people-friendly. They can report incidents along with pictures directly to police control room, DCPs and the police commissioner."
The app is not for lodging formal complaints, which will still have to be done at police stations, but people can still report incidents with relevant pics.
Santosh Babu further said that people can give their feedback on the new police website and that the DCPs and the police commissioner will be handling it.
He said that applications for various licences like driving and arms can be downloaded from the same.
When reporters asked why the app was not open for lodging complaints, the DCP said that there is shortage of police personnel to handle complaints online or on app, hence the department could not do it.
"The app has list of numbers for emergency services and of various departments and police stations. It also has a list of traffic offences and penalities. Moreover, it will provide live updates of traffic in different parts of the city," he said.
"The website has been linked to Facebook and Twitter and also contains map of police stations," he added.
The app has been developed by Diya Systems free of cost. However, due to technical issues, the app is not available for download right now. The DCP assured that it would be available on Google Play Store within a day or two.
Replying to a query from reporters about the demands placed by retired police officers for Arogya Bhagya and canteen services, DG and IGP Om Prakash said, "It would not be possible to provide them Arogya Bhagya scheme as it is functioning on the principle of reimbursement by officials. However, considering their welfare, we have set up a committee to look into the possibility of introducing a new scheme for the benefit of retired police personnel. It needs proper data bank of officers of different ranks and we need to create corpus funds. The committee headed by ADGP (grievances) is looking into this.
"Regarding demand for canteen, the government has said that it would examine the demand. This is not a state government scheme but is extended by the central master canteen run by BSF, so they have to give this extension," he said.
He also said that home guards will continue to fill the dearth of police personnel until new recruitment is done.
Om Prakash also informed that three new police stations - traffic south, at Kaikamba and at Jeppu - will be established soon.
On a question about misuse of social media, he said, "We are planning to form a special cell to monitor social media. We are also trying to develop tools to analyze threat from social media."
To a question on why police personnel from other states were being recruited more than locals in DK police, he said that he has no connection with the recruitment cell.
IGP (western range) Amrit Paul and police commissioner S Murugan were present.
Website: http://www.mangalorecitypolice.com/