Police commissioner Shankar Bidari endorses new software that will allow complainants to get updates on FIRs on their phones; initiative aimed at bridging police-public divide

Bangalore cops enhance text appeal

Police commissioner Shankar Bidari endorses new software that will allow complainants to get updates on FIRs on their phones; initiative aimed at bridgingu00a0 police-public divide

Police Commissioner Shankar M Bidari told this reporter that he expects the software that will make the FIR updates possible to be developed by August.
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"What we do at the moment is that we observe Complainant Day on every third Sunday.

Citizens are invited to meet designated police officers who have been asked to address public grievances. With the introduction of the new software, the number of unnecessary complainants would come down.
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It will also ensure that due procedure is followed in the filing of the FIR and during subsequent investigations," Bidari said.

Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari expects the software that will make the new SMS service possible to be activated in a month's time.

A month later

The software, which Bidari expects to be ready in a month's time, will give details like the next hearing date.

"When an FIR is filed, the system will issue a unique number to the complainant. This number will be an identification number for that particular case.

At our end, we will update details of the case like that state at which the investigation stands, the date on which the trail would begin on the software,'' a senior police officer explained.

"While people should not approach the police for frivolous reasons.
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However, it is important that matters of a serious nature are brought to the notice of the police. On our part, we are trying to do all we can to make the SMS service complainant friendly,'' Bidari said.

Post terror attacks, the Mumbai police had sent SMSes to people asking them to be vigilant and not touch any unclaimed articles.

Better rapport

Earlier, Director General and Inspector General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh, had directed his men to hold Complainant Days on a regular basis.
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The initiative was expected to build a better rapport between the public and police.

A senior officer at the city police commissioner's office suggested the jurisdictional police assist the people in solving minor problems related to water, electricity and other civic issues.
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"We expect this to help the police increase the people's confidence and ensure they become more communicative in terms of resolving law and order issues in the areas," said a senior cop.

How it Works?

Every FIR filed in Bangalore city limits would be assigned a unique identification number. All a citizen would have to do is SMS this number to a designated and widely publicised number. The software would dispatch an SMS in reply that would detail the progress made on the FIR. The police would feed in the details into the system so they become available to all citizens.

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