VIJAYAWADA: To enhance public safety, especially for women during night hours and to prevent crimes, the Vijayawada city police has launched a night patrolling drive based on ‘Koper Curve Principle’ to keep a tab on anti-social elements.The ‘Koper Curve Principle’ was developed by Christopher S Koper, an associate professor at George Mason University at Virginia in the US and a senior fellow at the university’s Centre for Evidence-Based Crime Policy.
The enforcement drive, which includes local police, a team from Special Branch and another team from Armed Reserve (AR) will comb problematic locations under their jurisdiction, and open and dark spaces, where alcohol and ganja consumption and other anti-social activities take place.During the drive conducted on Saturday night, TNIE also accompanied a team headed by Commissioner’s Task Force (CTF) additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) K Srinivas and task force ACP Varma and inspected the new pattern of the patrolling.
Police teams will conduct random vehicle checks and they will not be stationed at one place. They will question those moving suspiciously in the late hours.Speaking to TNIE, ADCP K Srinivas said that more than 20 crime-prone and problematic areas were identified across the city. “This night domination exercise is mainly focused on sanitising the isolated and peripheral areas where youngsters and criminals gather and resort to drinking and ganja consumption. The main objective of this night patrolling is to identify anti-social elements and counsel them and book cases based on the severity of their actions,” Srinivas explained.
When asked what action would be initiated against those caught indulging in illegal practices, Srinivas said that they will be taken to the nearest police station where the criminal antecedent or history if any will be verified with the CCTNS software. “If there are no cases or suspect sheets filed against them, they will be counselled and a fine will be imposed. If they are found committing the similar offence again, strict action will be initiated against them according to the law,” he said.
He further expressed happiness over the response from the public over the new pattern of patrolling. “Since the new patrolling system has been introduced, police visibility on the streets has increased. Police officers and the public are giving positive feedback about the initiative. So far, over 100 persons have been booked for committing various crimes,” he stated.