For better policing, IT city cops tap social media to the hilt

Having crossed more than six lakh followers on Twitter, the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) is enhancing its online presence by tapping on to more social media platforms such as Instagram and also reviving its Youtube channel which was defunct for the past two years.

The BCP will be soon entering the Snapchat as well, said Nagendra Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Command Centre). According to Kumar, “Provisions have been made for citizens to avail of police services using these apps as well. This is a continuous process and we will keep on improving with whatever possible on the technological front.”
The BCP has set a target of reaching 10 lakh Twitter followers soon, the DCP said.

Even the caller-tunes of all senior police officers will request the caller either to get in touch with 100 if it is an emergency or they can also get in touch with the police through Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp.

Announcing its presence on Instagram on Monday, BCP posted, “Guess we won’t be filtering just criminals now. We're the first Police Department in the country to get on Instagram” followed by another post reading “We’re watching you, you can watch us too. All set to relaunch our Youtube Channel.”

Among the nearly one crore of city's population, more than 40 lakh citizens are connected with the city police through various social media portals such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. “Be it citizens posting their concerns/views hash-tagging senior police officers’ twitter handles, or posting of violations/appreciation with pictures/videos on the city police's official Facebook page, our admins patiently go through them and respond to most of them, certainly putting up with bullies as well,” Kumar added.

“Not only that we are able to keep a tab on our followers and know what’s happening throughout the city. We are also actively interacting with them and vice versa, be it traffic alerts, updates, news feeds for awareness, initiatives, greetings, rules to be followed, dos and don’ts depending on the events and happenings across the city,” said Kumar.

Recently, during the IPL match in Bengaluru, there was a tweet from the city police top brass for a specific audience: “Dear bookies/gamblers, While Royal Challengers Bangalore will #PlayBold today, you guys can only try. We're watching you!” BCP also tweeted:  “Its Not Just Money you're betting.”

Social media team with their prompt responses, replying and re-tweeting, and especially with their recent polite sarcasms on drunk riding/driving and gambling/betting, has earned them a good name among netizens.