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It may be remembered that every citizen is a policeman
without uniform and every policeman is a citizen in uniform.
Participation from the members of public in the functioning of
police is very important as it not only helps the police
but also the public. In several cases, witnesses are
unwilling to disclose information of
local crime incidents as they fear reprisals at
the hands of criminal elements. Sometimes citizens want to
give information about serious crimes such as unauthorized
weapons, narcotic drugs, explosives, contrabands etc, while
not disclosing their identities. To help such citizens, this
service has been started.
HOW CAN PEOPLE HELP POLICE
Citizens can help the police in two ways:
(a) In Investigation of
crime.
(b) In prevention of crime.
(a) In investigation, people can pass on valuable information
to police regarding:
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Description
of the accused / suspects. |
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Registration number and
description of the vehicle involved in the commission of
crime and the direction in which it departed after
the commission of crime. |
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Reporting that a
vehicle has been abandoned in a public place for a long time
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Reporting
information about weapons
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Reporting
information about explosives
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Reporting
information about contrabands
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Reporting
information about narcotic
drugs, etc. |
The members of the public are also advised
not to handle anything which would help in
collecting valuable piece of evidence against the offender;
nor should they disturb the scene of offence till the
arrival of police.
In several countries abroad, there are crime-fighting
programmes known as CRIME STOPPERS to deal with crime while
keeping the citizenry perfectly insulated. Along similar lines,
Mumbai Police has started a crime resistance programme known
as ALERT CITIZEN since May 8,1998.
Now, citizens can call a hotline number 2633333, and report
information with complete anonymity. The caller provides a
fictitious birth date, which is used as a code for
identification for follow-ups on the crime and for rewards
that the caller might be eligible for.
All calls will be analyzed by a Special Cell working under
the DCP (Operations) and will be passed on to the concerned
police stations for further action.
Depending on the kind of response that this programme
attracts, the operations may be turned over to citizen
volunteers.
(b) In the prevention of crime:
Here also, members of the public can
play a major role. Merely taking safety precautions in one's
own interest is also a major contribution. Important
tips for the members of the public are provided in the earlier
paragraphs.
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