People’s trust in police rising significantly: Bhagwat

Hyderabad: “The rise in incidents of crime is not a matter of deep concern for me as it shows that many people are now coming forward to lodge complaints, which, to me, is an indication of their trust in the department and its competence levels,” observed Mahesh Bhagwat, police commissioner of Rachakonda.

“By normal standards, 2020 logged less crime cases due to the lockdown, but it has shown a nine per cent jump this year. We expect a 10 per cent rise in crimes every year,” he said at the year-end round-up here on Monday.

“The conviction percentage rose to 55 per cent from previous year’s 51 per cent. Our endeavour this year, which proved successful, was to reduce the crime harm index (CHI) by way of preventive detention of habitual offenders, and fast-track court trials while in detention,” he said.

Bhagwat said “in the monthly crime meetings with DGP Mahender Reddy, Rachakonda police consistently topped when it came to conviction of grave crime, summons, NBW, court duty, and patrol mobile verticals. Use of technology in crime prevention and detection helped law enforcement, traffic and crime police wings to significant levels. The Dial-100 responses in emergency situations have saved the lives of many people. Working on the principle ‘attack crime and not the criminals’, we had worksite schools for child labour of Odisha rescued from brick kilns. We were in collaboration with the district administrations of Ranga Reddy and Yadadri Bhongiri, and the brick kilns association. Children are provided quality education,” he said.

The help extended during the second wave won accolades from all over, including Mahender Reddy, he said. a