Police have an arduous yet thankless job. They work round the clock, mostly without recognition. That’s why cops are highly dis-spirited lot. An IPS officer in UP has tried to bring some changes in the system to improve the productivity and efficiency in his area.
To improve the functioning of the police workforce and to make them more accountable to the public,2016 batch IPS officer of UP cadre, Mr. Amit Kumar Anand had started an award called ‘Cop of the Month’. It’s impact is also visible on the ground.
Mr. Amit, who has now been transferred in Siddharthnagar district as SP a week ago, started this initiative first in 2018 in Prayagraj as ASP. Later, he implemented it in Moradabad as SP city from 2019 to 21 and then in Lucknow, when he was posted here as DCP East till 25th of June, 2022.
The primary aim behind this idea is to create healthy competition to among policemen to do better, increased police presence in streets and faster and improved response.
SELECTION
For this, every police men are given marks according to his work each day. Highest scorer of the month gets ‘Cop of the Month’ award. It is a self targeting, citizen centric and objective evaluation system.
Indian Masterminds interacted with IPS officer Amit Kumar Anand, SP, Siddharthnagar district and learnt about his initiative.
‘COP OF THE MONTH’
This campaign was started to assess the work from constable to inspector. In this, numbers will be given to the police daily throughout the month on the basis of their work and at the end of the month, the one who with the highest number will be selected as ‘Cop of the Month’.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Anand said, “I was transferred here just a week ago No single formula can be implemented as it is everywhere,as every district would have a different environment, its own problems. For the success of any initiative in police department, we must know all the stakeholders and nature of crime in the district. After assessing all that, I will implement the updated version of this initiative here.”
Talking about the awards, he said, “The biggest advantage of this will be that the self-competition spirit will increase among the policemen to give better efficiency and the police will work in a better way. In this, the constables and inspectors who do bad work and postpone their work will come to the notice of the department, because at the end of the month the bad numbers will themselves testify about it.”
EVALUATION &REPORT CARD
The process is very transparent and overjective. A report card is prepared at the end of the month for awarding the ‘Cop of the Month’ award. The one who has the highest number in this is given a prize and awarded with a citation.
Marks are given on different parameters to assess their performance. Eg.100 marks are given to the Inspector on the arresting a gangster. 50 marks are for recovery of Rs1 to 10 lakh related to the case, 10 marks on the action under Gunda Act, 20 marks on the action of gangster, 30markson the disposal of the seized vehicle standing in the police station, 30 marks on the disposal of goods, 100on the action of recovery of more than 10 lakhs, 20 numbers on the action of arrest of bounty crook and 20 numbers on the action on History-sheeter.
IMPACT
On being asked upon the impact of this initiative, Mr Anand said, “Yes, this initiative has many positive impacts. During my tenure, I have implemented it in 3 districts including Lucknow so far and got a great response to this campaign everywhere. This has given rise to a sense of competition among the policemen. Also the policemen try to give their best.”
“If you want to go by number then see the Lucknow outcome of my tenure. In police station PGI, Ashiana and Gomtinagar, 400 seized vehicles, lying dumped in police station premises were auctioned off. It’s a challenging long drawn task. Chinhat police station disposed of seized liquor from 2006-19 in 134 cases.Recovery of 14 stolen 4 wheelers worth 2.5 crores has been done by Vibhutikhand police station. Strong action under Gunda Act and Gangster Act has been taken. Property worth 32 crores has been seized of Gangster Riazul Islam.”
