NT Reporter
Panaji
Aiming at creating a safe and secure environment for the citizens of the capital city of Panaji, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Mayor Rohit Monserrate has decided to initiate community policing, which will be carried out in association with the Goa police.
Monserrate said the initiative will begin on pilot basis from Altinho area and then extended to Miramar area.
The entire Panaji city is divided into eight beats where each beat will be considered as one zone. As part of the initiative, a WhatsApp group will be created for each zone and nearly 10-15 persons would be added to it.
“The members of the WhatsApp group will include the deputy superintendent of police, police inspector, head constable and the beat officer, and a few responsible persons in the area who understand policing as also people’s side, among others. These people will act like our moderators also. So the moment there is any public safety issue, it would be posted on the group. This is mainly to bring about accountability,” Monserrate said.
A training session will be conducted for all involved to ensure that the system functions in a smooth and effective manner.
“We also plan to hold a meeting soon of all the locals with police personnel so that people develop a sense of confidence in the police too,” Monserrate said.
The CCP Mayor said they want to first have it in areas where there is a higher concentration of the elderly people.
“If successful, Panaji can be a model for the entire state,” he reckoned, adding that initially they want to restrict the group to public safety issues and later the scope of the group would be expanded to other issues.
