Greetings!
Ensuring peace and harmony for the citizens is the prime concern of the home department. Considering the turmoil at the border these days, the law enforcers have to be more alert and vigilant. We need to devise policies to ward off any potential threat to the internal security of the nation, especially in the commercial capital of the country. Strategic planning is the key to implementation of any policy. It is important to set a time frame to every plan and accelerate the pace to meet the deadlines.
The police force plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the citizens by being alert and active round the clock. It is important that the police force has a high morale so that they are able to meet the rigorous demands of their duties with due diligence. They ought to have a good rapport with communities so that they can expedite the process of detecting and solving crimes.
In view of the changing times, the government has taken several steps to strengthen the police force. With adaption of technology by one and all, the instances of cyber-crime have multiplied. In order to tackle these crimes it is important that police personnel be conversant with technology. Hence, police has equipped itself with latest technology and they have started communicating with the citizens on social media applications making it simple for both the police and the public. The ambitious CCTV project has been implemented in Mumbai, Pune and a few other cities of the state. Cyber labs at 43 different locations in Maharashtra have been set up.
Maharashtra has become the first state to complete the Crime & Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), which makes crime and criminal tracking easy with a large crime-related database of 1997 onwards. More than 1600 locations including all police stations in Maharashtra have been connected through CCTNS, These steps have certainly helped the state in achieving better conviction rate and justice to people. We have been paying special attention to coastal security and there has been considerable improvement in the entire system. Recruitment and training to new recruits on technology and use of latest arms and ammunitions has been another thrust area.
As the country witnesses increasing instances of terrorist encounters, Force One–an elite commando force of Maharashtra police to counter terror threat, is prepared and equipped for any eventualities, since its inception in 2009. The combat agency now reports to Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism squad which will improve co-ordination among them. Force One’s permanent base at Goregaon was inaugurated on September 1.
The Anti-Terrorist squad is trained and equipped to deal with the terror strikes. The city police is geared to meet any emergency or disaster in the city at any time of the day or night. For the common public, keen on understanding jail history the department is working on tourism policy that will allow access to certain jails in the state to common people.
The department has been working towards ensuring that women, children and elderly feel safe and confident enough to connect with the police without any hesitation and report any untoward incident. There is always more to do and more challenges, but I am confident that the persistent efforts will bear fruitful results.
Protector- as a magazine with its print and web version (www.theprotector.in) has proved to be an important vehicle in highlighting the good work of the police and fostering community policing through its informative content. I congratulate New Media Group, the publishers of the magazine for the commendable job and I am sure they will continue with the good work with the same zeal and enthusiasm.
K.P. Bakshi
Additional Chief Secretary- Home
Maharashtra
