About a month ago, a ripple began on social media: Bengaluru City Police is on Instagram. The city force has had a strong online presence for some years, although this time, things were different. Their posts transformed overnight from what Commissioner Praveen Sood described as “rather boring” to laugh-out-loud funny, replete with darkly witty pop culture references.
Behind this raging success are two young Bengaluru boys, Chethan Hiremath and Dheeraj Gowda. The duo took over the BCP’s social media about four weeks ago and the page received some 1,000,000 likes since, on their four-and-a-half year old Facebook page, upping their tally to over 5,00,000. Their social media wing was headed by DCP Nagendra Kumar before these two joined in. “They were doing a commendable job but we saw that their target audience was from 18 years of age to 35 years, the younger folk. We needed to tweak things a little.”
Pop culture was an instant choice, according to Dheeraj, the man behind design and content. "Pop culture is such a huge phenomenon, it instantly gets hits and grabs eyeballs, Game of Thrones being one of the most popular examples. Appealing to that crowd meant shorter, sweeter and definitely funnier posts, which made people laugh but also made a point.” Their posts include info graphics, click baits, positive news and of course, their signature witty memes. Their recent Game of Life campaign, based on the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, is about raising awareness about distracted driving and traffic violations.
The Bengaluru City Police Facebook page currently has 5,52,687 followers. Their Instagram account gained 3,097 followers with just 32 posts. They have also become the first police team to get on Snapchat. Their roaring popularity has also help make them more accessible. “The police force has a very dark reputation amongst most people and the brilliant work they do goes unnoticed. The social media popularity portrays them in a much nicer light, highlighting their achievements while making them seem more welcoming,” say the duo. Their startup, Crowd Kart, operates out of Indiranagar.
Love for the Bengaluru City Police has been pouring in from all over the country and abroad. “The posts are relatable and laced with humour,” says Chethan. The Mumbai City police, also famed for their quirky posts, have been left behind with 11,750 followers and the Delhi Police with 2,46,986.
Chethan and Dheeraj are also taking over police force in the State in the coming months along with some more in Northern India.
