Police chief's rounds keep city cops on their toes

Barely two weeks into his new role as the police chief of Navi Mumbai, KL Prasad has started paying city police stations a visit, to understand the work culture of his juniors and the problems they have been facing for years now.

The police chief has been also been attending regular parades at the police headquarters, too, wherein he also minutely checks the appearance of his officials. Sources from the headquarters told dna of navi mumbai that no police commissioner has attended the parades in the city in the last ten years.

"I want my officials to be professionals. It is very important that every police official instill a sense of discipline in himself, therefore, I am pointing out even if someone is not clean shaven and well-dressed while attending the parade," Prasad said.

"So far I have visited Rabale and Turbhe MIDC police stations and have understood that these police stations are lagging behind in various aspects. I will soon conduct a meeting with all senior police inspectors in the city and ask them to concentrate on their weaker areas. People-friendly policing is our priority and we will not compromise on it at any cost," he said.
Prasad added, "Once I am done with the police stations, I will take up undetected cases in the city. Our current strength is 4,800, which is definitely not at par with our requirements. But, we will try to manage things within the limited resources and manpower," he added.

According to Prasad, as far as the law and order situation of Navi Mumbai is concerned, there is nothing "very disturbing" as of now. "While it's true that instances of crimes like chain-snatching and burglary are taking place in the city, we have left no unturned in our efforts to prevent and detect such cases. Cheating cases and property crimes are also increasing in certain areas. We are not taking any chances when it comes to maintaining the coastal security. The entire coastal area has been kept under surveillance, and I can claim that it is not possible for anyone to stage an attack like 26/11 in Navi Mumbai," he added.

When asked if the police take hafta from the owners of ladies bars, he said, "I cannot claim that all my officers are honest. But, I am completely against the vulgarities going on in these bars and will take all possible steps to prevent it. So far our officials have conducted raids two such bars at Nerul and Belapur and arrested several people including around 40 women. I don't want my men to waste their time and talent by visiting these places on a regular basis and hence I declared that no new bar licenses will be issued during my tenure."