Chennai: Most police officers may prefer a quiet life after retirement. R.Nataraj, a retired IPS officer, is an exception. He went on to pursue his PhD in a subject, which he said, was dear to him-community policing in law enforcement.
After serving 36 years in police, Nataraj said he learnt many things, but most of all was that the best way to solve problems was for police to engage with people, instead of enforcing rules on them. And there is no cent per cent security, but it can be made better by roping in the common man.
In a chat with DC, he admits how he failed to take care of the common man when venues were cordoned off for VVIP functions. “It has happened to me on several occasions and I always advised my colleagues to consider the X factor that usually props up creating unexpected or unforeseen developments that affect the public.” In his Ph.D thesis, Nataraj distributed questionnaires to the public asking basic questions such as what the public expects from police, frequent mode of communication used, how best they would help resolve a problem.
From the response he received, Nataraj found that while citizens have faith in the justice system, they weren’t confident about police taking their cases seriously. Even if it is a serious case, they fear that police will grill them with questions and so they prefer to stay away. “Usually when a victim approaches the station they are kept in the dark about the case proceedings.” The police should share information with the complainant, this increases the confidence of the complainant,” said Nataraj.
The retired police officer, who is set to join mainstream politics as a member of the AIADMK, said the women he surveyed felt that crime was more rampant in the city than the men did and pointed out that more laws need to be evolved with regard to child and women abuse. “Besides the IPC, there is no other law that assures women and children of justice, however the public especially women will only come to police with their problems if police themselves reach out to citizens and don’t work in isolation.”
It is important for police to be proactive instead of being reactive, “During the Veerappan hunt, many of the tribals would never confide in us because they were scared of us and did not trust us. Eventually, what helped us was constant interaction with the tribals to gain their trust, then it became easier to track the accused down. This method has been implemented in over 50 countries in the world and succeeded. The police have to make it easier for public to approach them.”
Nataraj said this relationship could develop through small actions like for instance getting in touch with government officials if residents complain that lack of streetlights frightens them, “ We cannot make them trust us overnight, but we have to show the public from our day-to-day activities that police are here to help and the public can be assured of security, “ he explained.
