BENGALURU: As part of a major restructuring of the Bengaluru City Police, the state Cabinet on Tuesday approved the comprehensive reorganisation of the Bengaluru City Police into five separate commissionerates. The restructuring is being undertaken in view of the formation of GBA, to strengthen law and order, crime control, traffic management and public safety in the city. The existing Bengaluru City Police Commissionerate will be divided and reorganised into five separate police commissionerates — East, West, North, South and Central — under the overall supervision of a Chief Commissioner of Police.
The existing post of Police Commissioner will be upgraded and redesignated as Chief Commissioner of Police. The post of Joint or Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) will be redesignated as Commissioner of Police (Traffic). The proposed units will require a total of 6,550 additional posts to handle crime, traffic congestion and public security. The system will be strengthened through the creation of new posts and redeployment of existing personnel.
The Finance Department has given its consent for the creation of 1,022 new posts required for the restructuring, which has been approved by the Cabinet. Approval has also been given for the creation of 276 new posts for 11 police stations under the five commissionerates, including police stations on the outskirts of the city.
After the ongoing recruitment processes are completed, the establishment of new police stations and deployment of personnel will be taken up in phases. A one-time non-recurring expenditure of Rs 396.16 crore is estimated towards buildings, vehicles, equipment, CCTV systems and other infrastructure. The combined estimated expenditure is therefore expected to be Rs 764.87 crore.
Dark chapter in history of city police, says Ashoka
Strongly opposing the move , Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka said, “The post of Bengaluru Police Commissioner has its own respect and dignity. Instead of strengthening a system that has been in place for years, what was the need to split it into five commissionerates? This will push the police system into still more confusion.”
“After Bengaluru was already split into five corporations, it is facing administrative and financial problems. Now, by splitting the police department in the same way, the government is creating another muddle. This will become a dark chapter in the history of the Bengaluru police. Senior officers are also expressing concern about this decision. The government should first drop this Tughlaq-like decision and strengthen the existing commissionerate system,” he insisted.