In his first law and order meeting, newly appointed New Delhi police chief Alok Kumar Verma discussed possible measures with the staff to help make the capital safer for women. Addressing senior police officers at a meeting, Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma, 58, said: “All efforts must be made to instill a sense of confidence among the women of our city about their safety. ”
Infamous for criminal incidents against women, Delhi has witnessed an increase in the number of such cases as, according to the police, rising awareness has encouraged more women to report harassment. In such a scenario, the problem of women’s safety has made it to the list of issues taken up by the commissioner in his first week in office, implementing better traffic norms being among others. However, no specific information has been divulged about whether the commissioner will introduce new women’s safety measures or enhance the existing ones.
“The new commissioner is currently taking stock of the situation in the city. A lot has been going around and he is looking into various matters that require immediate attention,” sources in the police said.
Among other things discussed at the meeting attended by special and joint commissioners of police, IGI, Railways, Metro & Crime, the commissioner advised police personnel to ensure “visibility” of the police by increasing interaction with the people. He also emphasised on the need to improve intelligence gathering for taking preventive actions against hardened and known criminals. Verma also instructed the DCPs and additional DCPs to visit at least one police station in a week to review the working and records and ensure timely disposal of cases with quality investigation.
Ever since acquiring office, Verma hasn’t had any immediate direct interaction with the media that has led to some negative speculation. “The new commissioner wasn’t part of active policing for the past few years which makes it important for him to first go through everything that has been happening before making any statements,” said some sources in the Delhi police.
Verma is the 20th head of Delhi police and will be retiring in 17 months. He is a 1979-batch officer of AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre. He last served as the Director General (prisons) Tihar Jail and has also held the position of special CP (Administration) and the Joint CP (Crime) earlier.