CHENNAI: From the Modi-Xi summit to the Aththi Varadar festival, Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami attributed the success of these high-risk events to those who deserved rightly so - the State police - in an award ceremony that was held on Wednesday. He said,” The police force received praise even from the Chinese government, after the recent Modi-Xi summit which was held in the city earlier this month. The Chinese president travelled safely by road to reach Mamallapuram and the Chinese authorities were impressed with the security provided to President Xi Jinping.” The chief minister also praised the police for making it possible for nearly one crore people to visit Kancheepuram during the Aththi Varadar festival of Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple for 48 days.
Director General of Police J K Tripathy and additional director general of police (ADGP) Jayanth Murali, law and order, amongst other police officers, received the medal for the Arulmigu Athivarathar Special Service Medal to Police. The Chief Minister distributed the President of India medals and TN Chief Minister’s medals to Vigilance, Anti-Corruption, Fire and Rescue, Prison, and Forensic Sciences personnel of Tamil Nadu. Around 604 police officers and personnel received awards on Wednesday.
“Any state’s growth depends on the law and order situation. Our police has been taking all the precautionary steps to ensure no untoward incidents are reported. Also, the recent installation of CCTV cameras has helped the police in cracking cases and acted as a precautionary step in bringing down the crime rates,” he added.
He pointed out that 1,31,889 CCTVs have been installed in the city and 1,79,949 cameras have been installed across the State. Criticizing DMK president MK Stalin, the chief minister said,”In 2017, Stalin had pointed out that the state government had tampered in police policy note, which is not true. It may be noted since 2016, the crime rates have dropped by 36.4% and in 2018-19, around 8,427 vacancies in the police department have been filled,” he added.
He said the State also stands first in the country, for providing training for police personnel and their families, who suffer from mental pressure and are in need of psychological counselling. He also appreciated the police and Fire and Rescue Services departments and the fingerprint division of the police department, for detecting cases using the latest technology.
Cultural events were also held after the prize distribution.