Kolkata: The brass of Kolkata Police (KP), led by commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma, has told the force that it is of ‘utmost importance' to ‘maintain poise and be patient' under all circumstances.
"The discipline of the force is paramount. We should not react to provocation," a senior officer said while interacting with KP personnel at Alipore on Tuesday.
The reference, sources said, was to the recent spate of protests following the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and the restraint that police had displayed.
The divisional cops have also been asked to respond to distress calls without looking into jurisdictional issues. The commissioner stressed that the police station or traffic guard that would receive the first distress call would be held responsible if "any evacuation or immediate relief is required."
"While the jurisdictional issue will kick in once the investigation begins, not responding to evacuation calls like fire can lead to the concerned senior officers of the police station being pulled up. The senior officers, in such cases, might even face departmental inquiries," said an officer.
Recently, a slum located off Prince Anwar Road reported a fire and it was claimed that the police had arrived late as the police stations at Lake and Golf Green initially could not decide the area lay in whose jurisdiction. Though the area falls under Lake PS, the slum dwellers claimed that personnel of the Golf Green PS came to know of the incident first. Though, the cops had denied a delay in arrival.
The Kolkata Police top officials have also asked the force to be more disciplined. "The OC, along with additional OCs, will have to keep track of each FIR, its investigation, and subsequent progress. The OC must have the knowledge of key cases in his police station.
If the OC receives complaints of misconduct or complaints of dereliction of duty, he has to take appropriate action or inform Lalbazar. Failure to do so will lead to action against the senior officers themselves," stated a source, who attended the meeting.