Hyderabad City Police roll out all-women patrol squads to curb crimes

​Hyderabad: City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar on Monday launched Women Patrol teams “Women on Wheels.” In an impressive ceremony at the Goshamahal Stadium, he along with Additional CP (Crimes & SIT) Shikha Goel and movie actress Mehrene Kaur Pirzada flagged off 20 teams.  

Women police officers will now be a part of the patrolling force in the city. They will keep special focus on curbing incidents like sexual harassment. They will patrol the city streets during the day time and reach out to victims in distress. 

Earlier, the women officers were limited to police stations and were assigned to attend complaints, deployed for bandobust arrangements for protests and rallies. Women officers who were recruited recently were to be part of the City Women Patrolling Wing. Speaking on the occasion, CP Anjani Kumar said the city police is committed towards the safety and security of all citizens especially women. 

He said the “Women on Wheels” concept is also an attempt to mainstream the women police officers and give them an opportunity to perform all police duties on par with their male colleagues.  Additional CP (Crimes & SIT) Shikha Goel said 47 women officers were handpicked for this task. They have undergone two months of intensive training in unarmed combat, driving and other technical initiatives. 

 In the first phase one team per division of city police will function. They would be used for crime prevention, emergency response, community policing and creating awareness.  In the next phase, more teams will be introduced with at least one for each police station. They would be integrated with the blue colts functioning at police stations.

During the programme, the “Women on Wheels” exhibited their skills in unarmed combat. Senior police officials and about 1,000 college students participated in the launch programme.