Police Uncle: Delhi Police trying to build trust, break prejudices in young minds
New Delhi: When mothers scared their young children with 'so jao nahi to police ko de denge' (sleep or will hand you over to police), little did they realise that they were unknowingly creating an impression and prejudice against the police in the young minds. The Delhi Police has now focussed on revamping their image, especially among school children.
Though school children have earlier visited police stations in Delhi, the cops realised that they need to work more on the good 'Police Uncle' branding. A massive programme was organised by Delhi Police at the Thyagraj Stadium, which was presided over by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and was attended by thousands of school children from Delhi.
The programme was aimed at getting across to school children and showcasing a friendly face of the police among the upcoming generation and to educate them about the police, its functions and duties.
When the band played patriotic tunes, the children were seen interacting with the 'Police Uncles' and sharing their experiences and asking them questions.
"This is for a reason. We have talked to the children on Good Touch and Bad Touch to sensitize young children, especially the girls. In view of the rising incidents of cyber frauds and cyber-bullying, wherein children are most vulnerable targets, a short movie was shown to the children to make them aware about cybercrime and to educate them about the Do's/Don'ts while using social networking sites or while browsing on the Internet," said DCP South East Chinmoy Biswal.
Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik also released the 'Police Uncle' book which was conceived by two police officers SHO Kalkaji Ved Prakash and ACP kalkaji Anant Mittal. "This book is dedicated to all the school goers and to present a picture of police transformation from fear-inducing force to that of caring and loving in the present day scenario in the minds of children," Devesh Srivastav, Joint CP, Delhi Police, said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Commissioner of Police said, "The 'Police Uncle' initiative is a historic moment for Delhi Police in its community outreach efforts. The initiative will not only help us reach out to children across the city but across the country as well in showcasing to them a new friendly face of the police, which the majority of our policemen and policewomen actually are. This will also help enhance the confidence and trust of young schoolchildren in police."
