Friends with cops: Bringing police and people together

There is no day we close the newspaper without reading about a crime. Even during some journeys, we come across violations of rules or certain suspicious moves; however, most of us ignore the cues—either due to fear of reporting it or ignorance. We know that there is a Janamaithri Police for the welfare of society, but we may not be aware of the ways to reach them as there is an invisible gap between the police and the public.

A recent video campaign on Janamaithri Suraksha project which has five Mollywood actors - Prithviraj, Parvathy, Sijoy Varghese, Renji Panicker, and Pearle Maaney — supporting five different causes, intending to fill this gap. While Prithviraj talks about child rights, Parvathy stands for women’s rights.

Sijoy reminds the audience about cautious driving, Renji Panicker supports the ‘Kadalora Jagratha Samithi’ movement and Pearle narrates how protective police are. The video also has police officers explaining the services of community police and how people can reach them.

An initiative of Ernakulam Rural police, the campaign aims to increase awareness about the Janamaithri police. All actors have played their part for free as a social cause.

“Janamaithri project has been here for almost six years and has got legal backing. However, the real idea of community policing hasn’t reached the public. That is why we came up with this video. We also wanted to feature it in the national conclave of community police to explain our services before heads of police departments from other states,” explains Yathish Chandra IPS, Rural SP, Ernakulam.

“The video intends to strengthen the bond between the police and public. Celebrities have been roped in as they have a voice among the mass; each subject explained by them is chosen considering their personality and their onscreen characters. For instance, Sijoy speaks about ‘road safety’ as he had played the role of bike race coach in Bangalore Days,” he adds. 

But Sijoy says that more than movies, it was a personal experience that made him accept the offer. “I lost my parents in road accidents. Careless driving is a major cause of road accidents. We tend to do multi-tasking while driving, which must be stopped. While behind the wheels, we must be vigilant,” he says.

Scriptwriter-turned-actor Renji Panicker, whose movies King and Commissioner talks about coastal infiltration, believes this campaign will give more courage to coastal inhabitants to inform the police about breaches. “Our coastal line is vulnerable; the Mumbai attack is one example of coastal infiltration. Just a few months ago, coastal penetration happened in Alappuzha. Alert is needed.

Those who go into the sea can easily gather information about such movements than others. Motivating them to convey it to the concerned authorities will reduce the crime rate,” he says.

Pearle Maaney became a part of the project after attending a women empowerment programme in Aluva in which ADGP B. Sandhya IPS and SP Yathish Chandra IPS were present. “It was Sandhya ma’am who invited me to be a part of this project. I accepted it and later co-operated with Sijoy for executing it. There were many sittings with the police team to get a better understanding of the Janamaithri police. We could understand the effort taken by police for the welfare of citizens,” says Pearle.

Produced by the Kerala police, the video is directed by Abin Cleatus, a member of TVC Factory. The camera is cranked by Anil Vijay. The video, which is in English, will be done in regional languages and will be shared among the people via social media and messenger apps.