About 70 men and women police officers of the Tamil Nadu Special Police are being trained in Krav Maga, an Israeli martial art and self-defence system. It would help them tackle assailants using non-lethal techniques.
Trainer Sreeram says that the training should address specific needs of the police job, including regular beat policing, VIP protection, commandos and prison guards. In 2009, a group of sub-inspectors in their mid-30s were trained in the technique, followed by SIG commandos.
But this time, young volunteers — purely chosen based on physical fitness — who are seasoned police personnel are being trained.
Apart from the police force, many women employees from the IT and banking sectors are also undergoing training. Though the fundamentals are the same, the professionals are training only on self-defence which differs from the training given to police. “This training is basically to introduce them to non-lethal techniques where they can handle more than one assailant,” said Karan Singha, Additional Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu Special Police. With suggestions soon to be made to the Director General of Police to make the martial art training a regular training module for the Special Police, the next group to be trained will be the prison guards.