CHENNAI: While one section of police officials have spoken in favour of reviving the Greater Chennai policing concept, another section feels that a move to return to a unified city commissionerate would only make policing that much more difficult. Police officers who come under the suburban police commissionerate claim that it would be difficult to police and administer faraway places from the city and in the end, it would be the residents of those areas who would be most affected as they would have to travel into the city to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Police.They said it would become difficult to reach out to areas as far as Pallikaranai and Madhavaram from the city. Although there are officials responsible for these zones, having the commissionerate in the city in keeping with the Greater Chennai concept, would result in the local police stations becoming lax in administering their duties, they added. In case of a law and order emergency in far off places, it would take a long time for top officials to get there, reasoned the cops on the condition of anonymity.As a senior police official put it, “Going on daily rounds to all the three districts itself would be difficult as they are located in three different directions. When decentralisation is enforced in all fields, why not in the police department? The jurisdiction of the suburban police itself could be divided into two to make policing better.” Cops also raised concerns that a unified commissionerate would inconvenience those who have to get their complaint petitions attested by the CoP as they would have to travel all the way to the city for the purpose. According to another official, “A minimum of 10 and at times more than 40 complaints are registered at the public grievance meets at the commissionerate. This process will now be affected. Though the people had to travel to the city to file their complaints before the suburban commissionerate came into existence, they would still hesitate to come all the way here.”It took many months before people became aware that a suburban commissionerate was formed, added the official.“There still are people who come here saying that they had gone to the city commissionerate and were directed here. We are public servants and have the responsibility to work according to the public’s comfort,” he said.Incidentally, it is not just the public that would be affected, even police personnel, who come in to meet the Commissioner of Police with their complaints would find it difficult to travel all the way to the city from faraway places as they often make such visits after seeking a few hours of permission off duty from their immediate heads to do so.On allegations that the previous government divided the commissionerate only to promote a few officials, a section of officers said that it was the public’s comfort that should be given preference. “It looks like a conflict between top officials. If uniformity in functioning and modernisation is what the government is aiming for, then it has to be implemented across the state and not to a district alone,” said another police officer.Yet another senior official pointed out that commissionerates in cities like Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Salem were also decentralised and that the city and its district were controlled separately by a CoP and an SP respectively.
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