From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Feb 12: With technological advances, the nature of crime is also fast-changing and the police need to improve their policing work by adopting modern technology, said chief minister B S Yediyurappa in Bengaluru on Friday.
Inaugurating the annual conference of senior police officers in the conference hall of Vidhana Soudha, he promised to ensure that the State Government would provide all assistance and financial support for strengthening the police force.
At the same time, he said the police personnel in all police stations must be sensitized to treat the public with respect, especially those visiting the police stations for lodging complaints.
The first and foremost duty of all policemen must be to uphold the rule of law and protect the citizens, he said pointing out that the policemen must strive to serve and help the people and should not harass them needlessly.
He said the state government has established cyber economic and narcotics police stations and new mobile police stations with a view to ensuring better policing. The police must streamline crime detection and investigation besides tackling the increasing cases of cyber crimes in the state.
The chief minister said the state government was committed to boosting the morale of the police personnel to enable them to work better and more efficiently.
The state government has been implementing programmes for tackling the housing needs of policemen. As many as 9,820 houses have been constructed under the Police Gruha 2020 programme till October last year and steps are being taken to step up all under construction works. Recruitments and payments of salaries and allowances of policemen at all levels are being addressed, he said.
Yediyurappa said the state forensic science laboratory has been established in Bengaluru while separate barracks for women have been established in Bengaluru and Belagavi and a public school in Davangere along with five one-stop service centres have been constructed.
The state government has provided 700 two-wheelers to different police stations in the state under the Nirbhaya scheme in order to enable the police to rush to people in distress without undue delay, he added.
Home minister and law and parliamentary affairs minister, Basavaraj Bommai lauded the state police for their reputation for best policing and crime detection and efficient functioning even in challenging circumstances.
The police training and investigative work must be strengthened by making use of modern technology to face new challenges, he said.
Bommai appreciated the state police for their record seizure of narcotics last year and urged the officers at all levels to take a step to prevent the sale of drugs and narcotics in the vicinity of schools and colleges and protect the younger generation.
State DGP and inspector general of police, Praveen Sood, in his welcome address, underscored the need for upgrading the information technology tools and facilities provided to the police force for its better and improved performance.
Chief secretary P Ravi Kumar, home department, additional chief secretary, Dr Rajneesh Goel and other senior officials participated in the conference.