From Cycle to Cyber Patrolling, Hyderabad Police have travelled a long way: Mr Anjani Kumar, Police Commissioner, Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Telangana: As part of the modernization, the then Nizam Government in the year 1912, added 12 bicycles to Abids Police Station. Since then, till today, the Hyderabad Police have travelled A very long way, said Mr Anjanai Kumar, Police Commissioner of Hyderabad while addressing a 100 plus gathering of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) on Tuesday evening at Hotel Kohenur in Madhapur.

The Commissioner of the Police was the chief guest and addressed the members of FLO on Enforcing to Reinforcing, Police-Citizen Partnership for a Better Society, an interactive session.

Welcoming the gathering, Ms Uma Chigurupati, Chairperson of FLO Hyderabad said, Hyderabad Police are proved to be friends of citizens in many ways. And it was more visible during the pandemic.  We all have holidays, weekends, and festivals, but, police do not have such luxuries. Imagine an hour without police. The state of affairs and lawlessness in Afghanistan is a live example in front of our eyes, she said.

From Cycle patrolling to Cyber patrolling, the City Police have a long history Anjanji Kumar said.

Today the city has the best Cyber Lab in India, he added.

Policing is not new, from hunters to food gatherers to production, trade, the need for safety arose gradually. The safety of food was the most important thing in those days. Now the definition of crime is also changing. If you observe the developments in Afghanistan and lawlessness prevails there in the last couple of days is a shame to the modern world. The democratically elected government has to leave the realms of affairs to the people who want to get a hold of governance by force.  

Recalling the description of modern policing as defined by Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing, who established the London Metropolitan Police Force, Anjani Kumar said according to him every policeman is first a citizen and in every citizen there is a cop. Within every person there is the police, he said.

We felt insecure about our children when they were sent out to schools. Today they are in our own homes, they are unsafe. Every parent is worried about what their son is downloading and daughter uploading. This is where a cop within you must do policing, he said.

What we need now is the police with social touch and social responsibility, the top cop said.

That is why we need community and police partnerships. He urged members of FLO to come forward and join Hyderabad City Security Council (HCSC), a not for profit society to promote safety and security involving all the stakeholders of the community. This concept primarily adopts the Public-Private partnership (PPP) model in serving society in the areas of Women safety, Traffic safety, Infrastructure Security and Cybersecurity. HCSC is a unique initiative to promote awareness on personal safety and security, reduce crime and work towards enhancing safety and security in the city making Hyderabad a safe destination for living and businesses to flourish, he said. He appealed to all the women in the gathering to join HCSC to strengthen the hands of the police.

Earlier addressing a press conference while answering a question on how covid has changed law enforcement practices he said. it allowed police to go beyond the call of their professional duties and help society. We have not seen so much human touch. Police were more humane. They were covid warriors in every aspect.  Many police have not seen their children for weeks together. They slept in police stations. They lived in single rooms away from family members to avoid transmitting virus to their family members.  Police made lot of sacrifices, he said.