Internet is alien language for cops in the city

BANGALORE: Bangalore is the IT capital of the country, but one third of the state's police force is computer illiterate and do not know how to use the Internet.

This was revealed in a study conducted by the Public Affair Centre, a citybased NGO, on the police work culture in the state.

The state police department had asked the NGO to conduct the study to know the condition of the force and give them a facelift.

The study was conducted on 100 police stations in six police zones and three police commissionerates across the state.

The study also says that the illiteracy is due to the considerable "educational" gap between the

new and the old generation of the police.

As many as 53 per cent of the police force has not had any kind of training since their induction in the force.

The study reveals that there was inordinate delay in registering complaints at police stations under Bangalore City commissionerate.

A minimum of three hours is required to file a normal complaint, it says and adds that 48 per cent of the complainants said the police demanded bribe to initiate investigation.

The study also says the police officials forced the complainants to bear the expenses of investigations but failed to give them the updates on investigation.

According to the study, the police force is also overburdened with work and the average duty hours is between 13 hours and 16 hours per day.

As many as 30 per cent of the work force have been deprived of their weekly off due to various reasons and the police personnel are frustrated and their quality of work and personal life has been affected, the study said.

Director General and Inspector General of Police Ajai Kumar Singh admitted the shortage of staff and its affect on the work.

The shortage is bothering the police force since 1975. Even though the department has introduced shifts, things could not be streamlined.

In order to counter this problem, the department has planned to increase the police stations to divide the work of the overburdened police officers.

Singh said they have a comprehensive plan to train police personnel from the level of a constable to that of additional director general with the help of experts ranging from public relations to crime detection.

A sum of Rs 40 lakh has been earmarked for such training, he said.