BENGALURU: To bring order to and streamline the City Police force, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has started an operation to rotate roles of policemen, and stop the practise of personnel staying for long durations in one particular role in police stations or getting transferred to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), which is popularly known as a cash collection bureau, say sources.
Though the move has disappointed some officials, including inspectors and assistant commissioner of police (ACPs), the move has brought joy among the lower rung. According to sources, Commissioner Rao recently issued an order stating that all policemen — starting from police constables to assistant sub-inspectors — should be rotated in all the police stations across the city. To ensure his orders are followed, all inspectors have to send him reports detailing allocation of duties.
Confirming this, Rao said, “If any organisation has to grow, people in it should change roles. If only one person keeps doing the same work, the same old ideas and limitations will persist. The younger lot should also get the opportunity to work in challenging roles. The older lot will become entrenched in their comfort zones.”
This is a department with a lot of discretion, if there is no rotation, the discretion will remain only in the hands of a few, Rao said. “Everybody should get challenging assignments and learn different work.”
He added, “I know this is going to disappoint many people, because I am disturbing their comfort zones, but as a leader, I must ensure everybody is treated equally. There should be transparency, otherwise a few people will be enjoying themselves while the rest work like donkeys.”
Like in other police stations it applies to the CCB too, he said. “If anyone has joined the CCB for a second time or has been posted there on outdoor duty (OOD), he/she will have to move from the CCB. “Nobody is indispensable in this country. When I go, somebody else will take my chair — no constable is so valuable that a station can’t run without them,” Rao said.
One inspector, appreciating the top cop’s move, told TNIE, “The commissioner’s order will allow every constable to do all types of work — court, warrant, summons, patrolling day/night, crime, centre, special duty.”
A head constable said it is good that the commissioner has noticed partiality. “We have seen people working in the CCB and doing only special branch duty. This is a smart decision. Inspectors would assign their favourite constables to key posts, while both make money by collecting hafta,” he said.