Government to overhaul police system

Vijayawada : Revamping of the police system is on the cards. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who held a review meeting on Wednesday, instructed Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha and officials to see that all the CCTV cameras were functional in the state, and was connected to the central command centre.

Naidu said that six CCTV cameras should be installed in each police station and there should be close monitoring by respective police stations and also at the central command centre so that police can reach the site of any incident within minutes. He directed the DGP and other officials to keep a hawkeye vigil on women educational institutions, medical colleges, bus stations and railway stations to check any kind of atrocity on women.

Reacting to the request of the Home Minister and the DGP that there was a requirement of new vehicles for police, Naidu gave his nod to buy new vehicles so that mobility of the police can increase.

Briefing the media, Home Minister Anitha said that the Chief Minister has announced that soon a state-wide rally to create awareness on the need to put an end to the ganja menace would be organised.

The CM cleared the proposal to set up a Police Academy at Vijayawada, forensic lab at Amaravati and greyhounds academy in Visakhapatnam. The Centre had in the past released Rs 9 crore for the academy. He also asked officials to explore the possibility of setting up a forensic university.

Anitha said that due to the neglect of the police system by the previous government, there has been an 80 percent increase in crime against women. She said they did not even clear several bills of the police department and even failed to give annual maintenance charges to several police wings.

She said Naidu had emphasised on tracking systems and visible policing to check crime more particularly against women. Henceforth, each police vehicle will be eligible to buy 300 litres of fuel per month.

She said the CM directed that drones be used to identify ganja production spots and destroy the crop and counsel the tribals to opt for alternative crops.

Anitha further said DWCRA groups will be involved to bring awareness on women protection. Stating that people lost around Rs 940 crore through cyber crime, the minister said cyber crime police stations will be set up in each district under the supervision of DSP.