THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor P Sathasivam has called for educating police force in the recent amendments to criminal laws. He said investigators should be handed booklets in their local language.
Sathasivam was delivering the inaugural address at the national workshop on ‘paradigm change in community policing’ organised by the Janamaithri Suraksha Project of the state police here on Thursday.
He said the past two years saw amendments to the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act. He said investigators should be aware of changes made to laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 or the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
Citing his judicial experience, Sathasivam said the ignorance of investigators often resulted in the failure of the government stand. “At times, the detention order under the Goonda Act was found to be carelessly drafted forcing the courts to quash them,’’ he said.
He said the Janamaithri project should use social media platforms for better public interactions.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala who presided over the function said Janamaithri could emerge as a successful model in a relatively short time. “Noted was the project’s intervention to reclaim alienated tribal land,’’ he said.
Bureau of Police Research and Development director general Rajan Gupta called for a rethink on the Colonial-era rules which affect the police-public relations. The senior-most Punjab cadre IPS officer said his state’s experiment to post cops in their hometown helped in gaining the confidence of the public during the anti-insurgency operations.
Janamaithri nodal officer ADGP B Sandhya made a presentation on the history and achievements of the country’s first community policing project. Supreme Court former judge K T Thomas, State Police Chief K S Balasubramanian, DGP M N Krishnamoorthy and ADGP Loknath Behera spoke on the occasion.