We must form positive image for kids, says woman top cop

Pramod Giri, HT, 5 Aug 2016, SILIGURI: The fear of police since childhood is what the first lady police commissioner of the state believes should be done away with. And parents have an important role to play to inculcate a positive impression in children about the men in uniform.

Addressing a police-public interaction session on Thursday, CS Lepcha, the new Siliguri police commissioner, emphasised the need for the police to be friendlier with common people while she also suggested to the parents to create a positive impression about the police among young minds.

Lepcha, the first female commissioner of the state, also assured that she will work on making children-friendly police stations so that the police get more positive and creative suggestions particularly from school students.

T he pro g ramme org anised by the police to mark the fourth raising day of Siliguri Police Commissionerate and attended by a large number of school students, businessmen, industrialists and media persons was aimed at reaching out to common people with a positive message.

Issues including traffic congestions, lack of zebra crossings, use of loud speakers near educational institutes and during exams were raised.

Many school students demanded the police commissioner to organise a special session particularly for girl students and encourage them to join the police force.

The school students were in unison when they asked what steps the police are taking to reduce the traffic congestion which has become a nightmare particularly at Mallaguri and Darjeeling More.

Answering the questions, Lepcha who was also the state’s first female DSP pointed out that a large number of parents are responsible for creating fear psychosis among their children about the police. “We should stop telling our children that police would come and arrest them if they do not listen and behave properly.”

Police are also common people who are just doing their duty, Lepcha said, adding that there are ample scopes to improve police-public relation. She also called upon school students to put forward their suggestions to make Siliguri a better place.

On Thursday it was also informed that Siliguri Police lack requisite infrastructures including manpower. Suggestions like installations of CCTV cameras at public places were also given.

The issue of unnecessary police harassment in the name of checking documents of cars and motorcycles should be looked into seriously, a businessman pointed out.