Alok Kumar Verma, who recently was made the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), left an indelible mark on the city as the Commissioner of Delhi Police by improving the overall law and order situation and by making the national capital safer for women.
A 1979-batch Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Verma was posted in various roles and positions across vigilance, intelligence, crime, railways and administration, over a career spanning 37 years. Before taking up the responsibility of Delhi’s top cop, he also served as Director General of Prisons, Delhi, Director General of Police (DGP) Mizoram and Puducherry and was also posted as an IGP in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Under his tenure as Delhi Police Commissioner, for almost one year, in 2016, there was 12.82% increase in heinous cases detention rate and 148.9% increase in vehicle recovery rate.
At the same time, there was substantial decrease (26.36%) in heinous crimes, 17.26% decrease in street crimes.
His tenure saw a 148.9% increase in vehicle recovery rate.
Verma’s tenure will be remembered for his efforts to make Delhi safer for women. Under his tenure, the city witnessed a decrease in 10.97% in crime against women. There was substantial decrease in rape and molestation cases in 2016. For the first time, an “All Women PCR” was introduced in 2016 on Delhi’s roads, for which 20 women police personnel were exclusively trained. He also tried to boost police accountability with the help of public interactions, increasing visibility of police and community policing.
The national capital also witnessed a decline in incidents of robbery and dacoity. During 2016, 4,761 cases of robbery were reported, while 2,940 cases were solved with the arrest of 4,968 persons. On other hand, 46 cases of dacoity were reported, out of which 43 cases were solved with the arrest of 200 persons.
Soon after taking over as Delhi Police Commissioner in 2016, Verma had said that constabulary was the most important part of the police force and their welfare should not be neglected. Keeping his word, Verma pushed pending promotions across various ranks in the Delhi police. A total of 2,020 constables were promoted to head constable rank; 810 head constables were promoted to assistant sub-inspector rank; 1,450 assistant sub-inspectors were promoted to the rank of sub-inspectors; 50 sub-inspectors were promoted as inspectors; and two inspectors were promoted to the additional commissioner of police rank.
Breaking through the stagnant state of promotions, overall 4,000 police personnel were promoted under Verma in the capital.
There were prolonged demands of police personnel for improvement in their promotional prospects. Personnel in almost all the ranks received promotions.
Another major change done to improve human resource was that around 5,000 personnel in Delhi Police were transferred from administrative units to operational units in 2016. These transfers took place across all ranks in various departments of the Delhi Police to minimise the shortage of police personnel on field and to allow those who have been working on desk for a while to get back on field.