Corporate Police: Eight-hour shifts give Mumbai cops their smiles back

Happy constable Satish Bagal Bipin KokateThe 8hour work shift announcement by police chief Datta Padsalgikar last month was a challenge for the police And stations have been trying their best to follow the chiefs orders working around a huge staff shortage midday surveyed 5 stations to assess how well this was workingAfter police commissioner Datta Padsalgikar ordered that all city police stations implement eighthour shifts for its personnel 42 of the 94 complied till December 20 Shortage of manpower however has meant that the new style of functioning isnt complete yet mdash the duty hours of detection staff at each station are still beyond the stipulated periodMatunga Police StationAssistant inspector detection Uttam Mane in white talks to his staff PicBipin KokateDetection is toughHere personnel work for 12 hours once a week to adjust the weekly offsConstable Pandit Gavit said ldquoEarlier we worked 12 hours a day Now we get more time with our familiesrdquoldquoFor detecting cases there are no fixed hours when we have a case we do not go home for days We have to identify the accused trace himher and then interrogate Then comes the recording of statements documentation for court etc But when we are not on a case the timings are finerdquo said assistant inspector detection Uttam ManeFact fileEighthour shifts started from Septembergtgt Total staff 171gtgt Detection staff 20gtgt Average daily turnout 120125gtgt Number of staffers needed 50gtgt Chainsnatching spots which require regular patrolling 12KALACHOWKIE POLICE STATIONSharad Patil Somnath Deshmane and other officers PicBipin KokateFive days of easeThis one surrounded by government colonies has a boundary till Lalbaug market It requires at least 45 more to manage the new shifts Beat marshal Sharad Patil said ldquoMy job is to stay on the field and patrol the area The area has two main exit points which lead to the highway I work for eight hours for five days and one day for 1213 hours after which I get my weekly offrdquo Subinspector detection Somnath Deshman said ldquoDetection is tough At times we work for 36 to 40 hours continuously The new eighthour shifts are good if we are not on a caserdquoFact fileEighthour shifts started from Octobergtgt Total staff 143gtgt Detection staff 12gtgt Average daily turnout 110 gtgt Number of staffers needed 45 gtgt Chainsnatching spots requiring regular patrolling 10Azad Maidan Police StationAzad Maidan police station Fice PicThe busiest police station of South Mumbai is yet to initiate the eighthour shifts It has the BMC headquarters Azad Maidan and Killa court in its jurisdiction keeping personnel on their toes 24x7 It needs 80 more to enforce the new shift timingsFact fileEighthour shifts not initiated yetgtgt Total staff 236gtgt Detection staff 12gtgt Average daily turnout 180195gtgt Number of staffers needed 80gtgt Chainsnatching spots requiring regular patrolling 5JJ Marg Police StationIts different now betterSurrounded by several religious places it has JJ hospital nearby where criminals are brought for treatments and checkups Though escort officers from the local arms division are present there have been instances when the culprits have managed to escape The JJ marg police has to deal with this as wellConstable Bhavna Shirsath said ldquoI deal with complaints of women Each case is different also it gets tough when the complainants are aggressive I try to calm them down Before the new rule we used to work 1214 hours a day but now its different better When bandobast needs to be done there are no fixed timings but overall its a good initiative by our chiefrdquoldquoWe are doing our best to make this work We need more staff if we get 40odd more it will be smoother As a senior inspector I used to get a lot of complaints from staffers regarding leaves and weekly offs and overtime but after the enforcement thats all stopped I know the detection staff has no option if they are on a case but we are finding ways to reduce their work and stressrdquo said Dilip ShindeFact fileEighthour shifts started from octobergtgt Total staff 152gtgt Detection staff 15Average daily turnout 135 gtgt Number of staffers needed 40 gtgt Chainsnatching spots requiring regular patrolling 2Dongri Police stationDongri police station FILE PICShifts helping me stay fitLocated in a highly sensitive area its surrounded by 12 mosques 18 temples 12 dargahs two churches and a synagogue Six officers in threehour shifts are also deployed outside the office of Zakir Naiks IRF following the ban on the FoundationHead constable Rambhau Garje said ldquoDongri is a sensitive area several big festivals are celebrated here which see mass gatherings During such times citizens security is the priority hence we dont see how many hours we are working But the eighthour shift move is helping I am thankful to CP sirrdquoldquoI am a gund commander My job is to keep a watch on antisocial elements and historysheeters for which fitness is important The new shift is helping me stay fitrdquo said constable Prakash Gund adding ldquoBut when I have to be on the field and a situation breaks out then theres no looking at the time But the situation is definitely better nowrdquoInspector Ankush Katkar said ldquoOn November 28 we initiated the system its working well The staffers seem happier When there are festivals or gatherings we get additional staff from adjoining police stationsrdquoFact fileEighthour shifts started from NovembergtgtTotal staff 150gtgtDetection staff 14gtgtAverage daily turnout 115gtgtNumber of staffers needed 55gtgtChainsnatching spots requiring regular patrolling 3