Cops and their cellphone obsessions

The cops just refuse to overcome the affinity for their mobiles and are seen having them sticking out as ‘appendages’ while discharging their obligations

| DECEMBER 31, 2018, 02:08 AM IST

PACHU MENON  


Hopefully, newspaper headlines on Christmas day berating the police for its inability to protect a ‘traffic-sentinel’ from an angry crowd in Shiroda should not be read as an instance of the mobocracy that has set new norms in parts of the country, and with devastating effects at that.   

Deciding on the ‘guilt’ of the shopkeeper dealing in mobile-phones and other electronic gadgets and ‘enforcing’ strictures against his further stay in the locality, the assemblage of enraged public managed to have him ‘evicted’ from the village.   

While one would like to think of this episode as a scène from the western-films of yore; that this shameful incident happened in full view and in the presence of mute police officials and a district administration functionary speaks volumes for the callousness of the authorities in allowing the irate mob to take law into their own hands.   

For that matter, the police personnel, as enforcers of law and order, have often been slighted for their apathetic response to the increased lawlessness in the state. In spite of some brilliant investigative works that have brought laurels to the state police, the slovenly ways of the cops continue to invite cynical remarks.   

Having featured in the list of top-ten police stations in the country released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Curchorem police station in Goa is the pride of the state not only for the parameters considered for the honour, but also for maintaining good relations with the public in general.   

In fact a couple years of back, the Curchorem traffic police had gone beyond the call of duty when the traffic police personnel and home security guards undertook a mission to make the roads safer for motorist by trimming the roadside vegetation along the Curchorem-Sanguem stretch of road that was blocking the vision and posing a threat to motorists.   

The state police then turned its attention to rid the roads off disorderly drivers more accustomed to openly showing contempt for the laws of the road.   

With the fixation for ‘going mobile’ consuming the population, mobile-phones are today more of a necessity than a luxury! As a handy device, cell-phones have done justice to the ‘mobility’ factor of the gadget enabling users to accomplish their tasks ‘on the go’.   

The modern world lives in the age of Mobile Apps. The typical application software designed to run on mobile devices is an example of technology having had an overwhelming grip on every aspect of the new generation life.   

From on-line banking to on-line shopping; from paying utility bills to ordering food on-line; from booking movie-tickets to making travelling plans; various mobile applications have made life that much easier for the consumer.   

Showing glimpses of its innovative skills, the Goa police was at its creative best conceptualizing a plan to curb the traffic nuisance by utilizing the craze that describes the use of cell-phones by the public these days.   

Armed with their mobiles, an enthusiastic public was soon on the job reporting traffic infringement.   

Capturing traffic-offenders on mobile cameras and uploading them on the recommended site, the police ensured public participation for reining-in the menace of disorderly driving so very ‘popular’ among the commuting public.   

Considering the unruly traffic on Goan thoroughfares which has defied sensible management for years now, the highly successful ‘Traffic Sentinel’ scheme initially launched via a WhatsApp platform is, a year on, a dedicated Mobile App.   

But as with all such ‘publicly accepted’ schemes, this one too was riddled with its share of ambiguities.   

Fears over the scheme turning into vindictive tools in the hands of those interested in ‘settling scores’ with others were not unfounded either. Cases of ‘mischievous’ reporting gave the police enough to ponder over, but on the whole the traffic-sentinel scheme did produce results.   

While the fantastic response to the initiative by the police to check traffic violations on the state’s roads is indeed commendable, apprehensions over the ‘protection’ extended to the whistle blowers which were earlier put down as ‘travails of the trade’ have however come to haunt the Goa police with a vehemence that is alarming.   

If the ruckus at Shiroda is any indication of the offence taken by the populace against the ‘reporting’ of traffic violations through the so-called ‘popular’ scheme, it must be said that the safety of those who expose any kind of activity or pass on any information pertaining to the willful violation of traffic rules by the public doesn’t seem to have unduly perturbed the police authorities.   

While the necessity to maintain the identity of the whistle blower is of paramount importance in such cases where the authorities request the members of the public to come forward to report on the irregularities observed vis-à-vis infringement of traffic regulations, the notion nurtured by the police that the cash-awards offered are prompting members of the public to ‘rattle on’ motorists who do not conform to rules and regulations specified compromises the ‘safeguarding’ aspect of the whole scheme.   

Duty-bound to extend maximum protection to the traffic vigilantes, the police should have no place for complacency when it comes to anticipating such unpleasant situations and dealing with them effectively.   

The popularity of the scheme will otherwise be threatened with a steep drop in public participation.   

Creating mechanisms for reporting wrongdoings is no doubt a healthy step towards consolidating the efforts of the government in furthering its anti-corruption and anti-fraud agendas.   

But having said that, would it be wrong to fervently wish for having the ‘traffic sentinel’ scheme ‘amended’ so also to make provisions for reporting dereliction of duty that has become the ‘hallmark’ of the police personnel in the state, especially in this age of cellphone revolution.   

The cops just refuse to overcome the affinity for their mobiles and are seen having them sticking out as ‘appendages’ while discharging their obligations.   

The traffic woes at the new Mandovi and Zuari Bridge construction sites which have become raging issues of public discussion do not seem to have overly affected the traffic personnel posted at the important diversions on the existing route.   

Seen more engrossed that they are in their ‘mobile affairs’ than streamlining the horrendous crawl that characterizes the vehicular movement at these junctions, their priorities are indeed a matter of concern.   

Even otherwise, an ‘unwavering loyalty’ to their mobile sets is as common with the policemen as with other members of the public. Entrusting traffic-manning responsibilities to the Home Guard personnel, the cops and their cellphone antics continue to regale commuters.   

Although such situations warrant a blanket-ban on the usage of mobile phones for police personnel on duty, would the police higher-ups in the force ever entertain thoughts of bringing their brethren under the ambit of such ‘schemes’?   

The government thus needs to mull over sentinels who could keep a watch over those irresponsibly discharging their duties while on guarding and law-enforcement assignments - and reporting them!   

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