Come Dec.31, all Police Stations will greet and say, ‘May I Help You’

Bengaluru: Soon, all Police Stations across the State will have a reception desk with trained personnel to address public grievances. In an attempt to make Police Stations public-friendly, Karnataka DG&IGP Neelamani N. Raju has ordered to establish reception desks under the ‘Janasnehi Police Scheme’ by Dec.31. She has also asked for a compliance report along with the photograph of the reception area at each Police Station. The reception desk will have staff trained in soft skills to greet visitors. Each Police Station will have the reception desk and a signboard with the words ‘May I Help You?’ in both English and Kannada. Three to four suitable personnel from each station will be trained to communicate politely with citizens and respond to their queries. This will ensure their behaviour with the public is friendly and appropriate, the order said. Each Station has been granted Rs.1 lakh towards the effort. At least 3-4 personnel from every Police Station would be trained for two days in soft skills and this initiative may help the Department fight the negative public perception towards Police behaviour. A visitor’s register will be kept at the reception desk which will record name and telephone number of the visitor, time of visit to the Police station, the nature of complaint/work, the person who attended to the visitor, signature/ thumb impression of the visitor and time of departure of the visitor. On top of the register, the reception officer will enter his/ her name and badge number. The reception desk will have chairs for the reception officer and visitors, a fan and drinking water facilities. The order further states that these reception desks must be established in the offices of Circle Inspectors, Dy.SPs and other senior Police officials.