All-women cop team to keep an eye on city streets

Kolkata: Kolkata Police has introduced "The Winners"- a special all-women patrolling team to combat and prevent incidents of molestation and eve-teasing in the city.

This is the first time in the history of Kolkata Police that such a special team has been set up to ensure safety and security of women.

The women police will be patrolling different parts of the city on scooters and they will reach a spot soon after receiving information of any untoward incident. The team of "The Winners" initiated their journey from Lalbazar in presence of Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner of Police and other senior police officers.

All the women police personnel had received their training for the past three months in the Police Training School (PTS). Most importantly, all the women police personnel will be having body-cams like traffic sergeants.

The women police will be deployed at different parts of the city. They will be maintaining vigil while patrolling different areas. It will make the "public places safer for women".

The women police will be patrolling on scooters at different locations in different parts of the city. Patrolling in areas including Park Street, Esplanade, Rabindra Sadan crossing, Elgin Road, Gariahat, Shyambazar, Ultadanga and areas around Victoria Memorial Hall, will be carried out on a regular basis.

It may be mentioned that the police have already taken several steps to check incidents of sexual harassment on women. Now, with introduction of "The Winners", the rate of such incidents will go down further. The women police have been trained in such a way that they are capable of taking prompt action to save a woman from becoming a victim of sexual harassment. In case there is need of any more manpower to tackle a situation, the women police will be contacting the concerned police officers and subsequent steps will be taken.

Earlier, it was found that women had to approach traffic sergeants and constables for any kind of help. Now, with introduction of "The Winners", they can approach an on-duty woman officer and at the same time, will feel comfortable in sharing their problems.

It may be recalled that during the training of women police personnel at Police Training School, Kumar had given necessary advice to ensure that they get prepared properly.