DGP affirms police will leave no stone unturned towards maintaining peaceful and fear-free environment

KOHIMA, MARCH 24: Director General of Police (DGP) Rupin Sharma today asserted that the State Police Force would leave no stone unturned towards maintaining a better, peaceful and fear-free environment which would help in ushering a new era of development in Nagaland.
He made the assertion during the Nagaland Police Senior Officers and Unit Commanders meeting with Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of Home and Border Affairs, Y Patton, at Police Headquarters Conference Hall here.
He said that PHQ is seized of various organizational and professional matters and constituted numerous committees to improve the functioning of the Force.
Affirming that the Department will make efforts to uplift the standard of policing in the State, Sharma said since January, the Department prioritized the ‘War on Drugs’ as its No. 1 priority.
Realizing the need for a multi-pronged approach to combat this menace, the Department decided to educate police personnel too about the ill-effects of the menace and the seriousness of the problem.
Maintaining that rehab of consumers is an important aspect, the DGP appealed to his personnel addicted to liquor or drugs to voluntarily come forward so that they would be rehabilitated, if not they would face suspension or termination from service if caught by the Department.
Nagaland Police would perhaps be the first Police Force in the country to administer the anti-Narcotics Pledge to all its personnel, which was done today.
He also asked Police personnel to be prepared for various issues confronting the State such as the forthcoming G-20 Summit, the ULB elections, a possible ENPO arrangement, a Peace Accord, removal of AFSPA from additional police station areas and jurisdictions as well as the drug menace and dealing with crimes and extortion and other inter- factional disturbances which disturb law and order in the State.
Saying that the police are at the forefront in most law and order issues and face the brunt of such problems, he said “we need to proactively identify and narrow down on potential flash points like inter-tribal or factional or village disputes or even agitations by various NGOs, CSOs or organizations and seek solutions or advise the Government to break the deadlock or take preemptive measures.
“Our society has some peculiar features where village and tribal level units are important. So are some of the CSOS and NGOs. We would like to devise active association with each stakeholder by creating ‘formal linkages’ so that policing can be synergized and an effective police-public partnership can be developed”, he said.
The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and Rules for Administration of Justice and Police in Nagaland provide ample legal basis for coordination, he said.
While urging public and CSOs to help the police, Sharma also requested them not to take law into their own hands but act within the confines of law.
Since most districts and police stations do not have too much active policing work, he said the Department would start training programmes for the public in law enforcement and police at various levels starting from schools to villages.
Sharma also stressed on the need to establish linkages between traditional and customary methods and modern policing.
Crimes or matters which fall within the ambit and jurisdiction of villages, the village councils and their competence need to be documented and linked with policing for effectively securing lives of people. We will try to devise mechanisms for this, he said.
Saying that the investigation skills and components of the police need an upgrade both qualitatively and logistically, he said the Department is working on a plan to project their requirements to the Government.
“Policing, in modern times, is not merely brawn but brains and law. We need to shift from danda to kanoon (stick to law)”, he said.
The DGP also maintained that free and open registration of crimes and cases is important to revive the public trust in policing while enhanced crime figures should not be seen as ineffectiveness in maintenance of law and order but as a proof of the public trust.
With an opposition-less Government in Nagaland, the DGP requested the Deputy Chief Minister to help the Department in advocating this with the Government so that increased crime figures are not seen as breakdown of law and order but as a proof of trust in the Police Department.
Further informing that the Supreme Court and Gauhati High Court have been pushing for separation of investigation and law and order functions, for which the Department is trying to devise a mechanism, the DGP said this would require the State Police personnel to reorient themselves accordingly.
(Page News Service)