Karnataka: Student police cadets visit Central prison to learn about Prisoner’s Act

Bengaluru: Over 300 student police cadets from over seven schools in the city visited the Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara on Saturday to understand first-hand about the Prisoner’s Act. The nodal officer for the Student Police Cadet (SPC) project launched in the state, P. Harisekaran, explained to the students about how an accused, after committing a crime, ends up at the Central Jail as undertrial and convict. The students have been drawn from government, government-aided and BBMP high schools.

“As a part of the youth development programme, the state government has considered investing in children today, which is going to have a great deal of impact on the socio-economic development of the state,” Harisekaran said. The SPC project aims at the youngsters building a healthy relationship with the police and cooperating with them in terms of obtaining and feeding information, he added.

“More than 80 to 90% information is collected by the police constables, but, I firmly believe that the police alone cannot keep culling out information without active participation of citizens. The SPC project comes in handy here as these students are imbibed with policing instincts, which play a vital role in gathering information from their neighbourhood,” said Harisekaran.

Earlier, people had a different perception of the police. Due to fear and animosity to an extent they didn’t want to visit a police station. Today that has changed with the ITBT revolutionising the entire concept of policing, he said.

“We are moving step by step in the SPC project. Initially we gave the cadets exposure on the legislative role of police, secondly about the executive role of the police, thirdly about police station level involvement and now they have got the exposure of what happens at the prison,” said Harisekaran.

The purpose of showing the prison to the students is to make them understand practically what happens to a person after he/she commits a crime. They should understand what freedom is outside and how it is curtailed inside the jail. The exposure will only help the children understand what the laws of the land are and how one should behave in an open society. When one misuses freedom and ends up committing a crime, there is a democratic process followed which will end up curtailing their freedom,”  he added.

Student police cadet Shwetha T. said, “We learnt a lot of new things about the police department after we joined the SPC.” Now we know about regulations, discipline and being an alert citizen, said Khutejathaul Kubra, a SPC from BBMP Girls High School from Cleveland Town.

“The students got to see firsthand what kind of environment prevails in jails and the day-to-day activities, food and other facilities of criminals. Usually students get nervous when they hear about court cases and police, but with this exposure, their confidence has gone up. They now understand the law of the land involved,” said Abdul Rahim Community Police Officer from BBMP Girls High School.

“From each school around 44 students have been selected. They are trained and encouraged to participate in community policing. With these kinds of field trips, their confidence in police department increases,” Abdul added. As part of the SPC project the students will soon visit the High Court, Harisekaran said.