Too many night shifts: Cops suggest solutions

Bengaluru: Bengalurueans may be having fun partying the nights away, but the policemen  who are working the nights away are finding it far from fun.
Cops doing extended night shifts are now discovering that it’s taking a toll on their health. Also, the lack of effective man-power management by the police department is affecting the morale as well as the physical well-being of the force.

There are some policemen who suggest a solution. If those working on the general shift are asked to report to work earlier, the night shift cops can be relieved on time after their shifts get over.

With this simple but effective method, unnecessarily long night shift hours can be reduced.  

Middle-aged cops including ASIs who work on night shifts often find it difficult to fill in for their colleagues when they don’t turn up for their shifts. Many are forced to do extra shifts because of lack of staff.

Those cops who are subjected to such work pressure, find themselves  suffering from ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure and other stress-related diseases.

The possible solution could be to get to work a little early. Cops on court duty or those who issue summons and warrants, work on general shifts. “Those who are computer literate are put on general shifts. If they could report  a little earlier and relieve night shift duty men, the people working on night shift would not crib. This benefits people working both in night and general shifts,” suggested a policeman.

Senior officials may feel that home guards could be an alternative to deal with the staff crisis, but home guards cannot match the kind of service a trained  policeman can provide. It requires a cop to do crime solving and a home guard cannot be a substitute for a cop, said an officer on condition of anonymity. They aren’t even regular. “According to our station register, around 10 home guards have enrolled and are supposed to come regularly, but only two of them are regular, all the others do not turn up at all,” he pointed out.

The City Armed Reserve (CAR) police are another option if there’s  a crisis to be dealt with. If 10 or more CAR personnel are deputed to each police station, it would end the shift crisis and the quality of policing will improve. The men would not be overburdened and prevention of crime would become the priority, concluded the officer.