Available to the public round the clock: Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner

The scenic coastal city of Vizag is emerging as the prime cosmopolitan hub in the state. With several fields booming of late, the city holds remarkable prospects in store. However, the benisons do not come short of challenges. As the city looks poised to take significant leaps towards development, a few anti-social elements threaten to pose hurdles. And the city’s police department has been striving diligently to weed out these issues. In an exclusive interaction with Teja Kovvali of Yo! Vizag, Commissioner of Police, Visakhapatnam, Manish Kumar Sinha (IPS) shares further insights into the efforts being made to make the city of destiny safer and more secure.

Excerpts from our interview with the Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner:

It’s been five months since you took charge as the Commissioner of Police in Visakhapatnam. How has the journey been?

The journey has been a pleasant one so far. Vizag is a peaceful city. The support from my colleagues and the public, at large, has been commendable. Collectively, we have been able to introduce a couple of new initiatives that have been fetching good response.

What are the key issues that need attention in the city?

We have identified a few key issues that need to be addressed immediately in the city. Among them, land grabbing, drug abuse, bike racing, cybercrime, women safety, and beach security have been at the top of our agenda.

How do you plan to address them?

We have formulated specific strategies to address each of these issues. Not only are we taking severe action against the culprits but are also trying to raise awareness among the target groups to reduce the incidence of crime.

To tackle land grabbing, we have formed a Pre Litigation Counselling Forum (PLCF). The forum aims to settle issues between the parties involved before the matter is taken to the civil court. Representatives of the Revenue Department, Municipal Corporation, and the Police Department make efforts to resolve the conflicts amicably.

We have also paved the way to ‘Neti Yuvathe Repati Pourulu’, in a bid to address issues that majorly involve the youth. 

It has been observed that several young boys and girls in the city are entering relationships at a very tender age. Unable to cope up, they are having ugly fallouts, which is ultimately leading to crimes. As part of ‘Neti Yuvathe Repati Pourulu’, the police counsels youngsters and encourage them to reach out to their elders or the officials to report any problem.

Under the scope of this programme, we are also educating the city’s youth on the consequences of drug addiction, which has been a major area of concern. The campaign ‘Mattu Voddu Chaduve Muddu’ focusses on conducting special anti-drug drives and counselling students across the city.

Further expanding the scope of ‘Neti Yuvathe Repati Pourulu’, we have launched the campaign ‘Vegam Champestundi’, which looks to curb rash driving and bike races in the city by spreading awareness among youngsters. So far, we have booked about 400 cases on various motorcyclists across the city for breaking the norms.

Coming to cybercrime, citizens are being constantly cautioned on the safety measures to be taken while using the virtual space.

How do you plan to bolster women safety in the city?

Considering the fact that not many women are comfortable approaching a police station to report an issue, the Visakhapatnam City Police set up an all-women team, consisting personnel from the Police Department, Women and Child Welfare Department. 

Termed Women In Need (WIN), the team has been integrated with the state government’s Disha policing to set up Disha Counselling Centre for Women In Need. Through this initiative, we have created a platform wherein women can approach us, report their problem, and confidentiality shall be maintained. The counselling centre even offers services of professional psychologists and psychiatrists to those looking to share their problems.

You are even looking to promote visible policing on the beach and involve the community in policing. Tell us a bit about these initiatives

Beefing up the vigil along the beach, we have deployed special teams and even set up a beach control room to ensure the safety of the visitors.

We have even introduced a Community Beat System for better detection and prevention of illegal activities. The initiative intends to form a cost-effective problem-solving partnership between the police and the community. Under this system, the public is encouraged to arrange for private or community beat system in the surroundings. 

As an extension of Community Policing, we have involved auto drivers in the city to control the offences committed by them and also form a better information channel, which would ultimately lead to effective detection and prevention of crimes.

What is your vision for the police force in the city?

We are very clear about our agenda within the department. Everyone in the force has been categorically informed that corruption and inaction will not be tolerated. The plan is to make active response and honesty integral in the way we function.

Message to the public

I hereby inform the public that the Visakhapatnam Police is here to help them. We are available to serve them round the clock and the intention is to not allow any slips.