Chennai: Following the footprints of Kerala, the Chennai City police has launched forty 27/ 7 ‘Amma Patrol’ vehicles to ensure women safety and to reduce violence against women and children in the city.
This significant step by the state was launched by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday. If at all a patrol, for the safety of women and children was launched decades back, Nirbhaya and Ashifa would be living with us now.
Under the Centre’s special scheme for ‘women’s safety’ in public places, Rs 425 crore was allocated to the city with contribution from the Union and state governments. The Tamil Nadu government had purchased patrol vehicles at a cost of Rs 7.50 crore, fully equipped with state of the art facilities like surveillance cameras, GPS and the like.
On a pilot basis, these patrol vehicles were given to the 35 all-women police stations in the city, and will be extended to other districts later. An inspector of an all-women police station, when contacted, said, “The vehicles will monitor crowded areas in the cities. Helpline number 1091 for complaints of crimes against women and 1098 for crimes against children, have also been displayed on the body of the vehicles.”
The patrol car has GPS tracking devices and cameras installed in its front and rear sides. The camera sends continuous visuals to the control room. An officer from the control room can monitor these visuals and also the movements of the patrol team. In quick time, they will be able to deploy additional forces to various areas whenever necessary. The patrol will be deployed in areas that have a high presence of women 24/7.
They may be present anywhere in the city - bus stops, junctions, hang-out areas, places near educational institutions, and so on. They are there to look at all crimes against women in public places - harassment, anti-social activities, women’s abuse etc. They will act as a guard to women, children and people with disabilities, especially, late in the evenings. The initiative is expected to sternly put down eve-teasing or molestation threats. The team will also assist children and passengers with physical disabilities, and the elderly to move about in a comfortable manner.
In March 2019, the state government created a ‘Crime against Women and Children (CWC) Wing’ to supervise all cases of crime committed against women and children. ADGP Arunalachalam was appointed as head of the wing. The wing supervises all-women police stations and other special units like anti-human, child-trafficking, etc. The white and pink ‘Amma Patrol team’ will be supervised by the CWC wing.
