CM Naidu Asks Police to Maintain High Alert, Respond Within ‘Golden Hour’
Naidu held his first review meeting with police officers from the DGP to SHOs at the secretariat on Wednesday.
Vijayawada:Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed the police to adapt their law enforcement methods to changing crime patterns, preserve evidence at crime scenes and remain on high alert to respond within the ‘golden hour’ to prevent crime.
Naidu held his first review meeting with police officers from the DGP to SHOs at the secretariat on Wednesday. Senior officers attended the meeting in person, while lower-level officers participated in online mode.
The Chief Minister stressed the importance of maintaining law and order to ensure public safety and attract investments to the state. Describing the police department as a source of pride for AP, he asked personnel to win public confidence through their work and adopt both visible and invisible policing.
Referring to a 14 per cent decline in cognisable crimes in the state over the past two years, Naidu said crime was evolving, with digital crime and ‘digital arrests’ emerging as major challenges. He asked cops to make greater use of technology.
Naidu said nearly one lakh cameras, including 14,770 CCTV cameras belonging to private organisations, had been linked to the police system for crime monitoring. Facial recognition and DNA analysis were among the modern methods being used in crime investigation.
He said political crimes, digital crimes and objectionable posts on social media were increasing. The government had adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards crimes against women, he said, and directed the police to deal firmly with such offences.
Naidu recalled the murder of former minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy and said the police had been misled by ‘some people’ during the investigation.
He said efforts were under way to establish an organisation at the national level to tackle drugs and ganja crimes and called for extensive campaigns to protect women and control the use of narcotic substances.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to install signages and conduct road-engineering audits and identify accident hotspots to reduce road accidents.
“No political party has the right to violate rules,” he said, and directed the police to respond whenever there arose a threat to law and order.
Referring to political rallies on public roads, he said such events affected traffic and caused inconvenience to commuters. “Nearly 94 per cent of those creating disturbances on public roads belong to one political party,” he opined.
The CM asked police to focus more on personal abuse on social media and increase crime detection. He assured the police of government support from the DGP office to police stations and directed them to release monthly performance reports.
