Response to plaints on social media lax, DCPs asked to act

New Delhi: Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava has now directed all district DCPs to make sure appropriate action is taken against complaints coming in through social media platforms after he was apprised during a recent crime review meeting that there was considerable laxity found in how officials responded to such complaints, Millennium Post has learnt.

Highly placed police sources told Millennium Post that a Special CP briefed the top brass about lack of action, information about various crimes, traffic congestion, etc. during the meeting. "CP directed district DCPs to ensure prompt legal action on such tweets," the sources added.

Officials have said that there is a fortnightly review of tweets by Commissioner Shrivastava to check the action taken by officers on the common people's grievances. "PHQ is also writing to DCPs for necessary action on grievances," they said.

Sources further claimed there were various kinds of tweets in which no action was taken and there was a lack of progress in the investigation. "In one such tweet, a user wrote no action by police on complaints despite repeated requests and visits made to the offices of senior officers," sources said.

In another tweet, the complainant had informed the police about open drinking. "There were also tweets about a person complaining of online fraud and investigation was pending," an official said.

According to the police, they are committed to widening their social media reach further in the coming days. "We believe in evolving with the times and connecting with the citizenry on every available platform," the Delhi Police have said. The city police are now reachable on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The police claimed that their social media platforms are being effectively used for grievance redressal, issuing advisories and live updates, especially about traffic situations at various busy junctions, traffic jams, alternative routes, blockades.

"The general public is also actively participating and sharing pictures, complaints of violations with Delhi Traffic Police and punitive action as per law is taken on them," police said.

Interestingly, just last year, the Delhi Police had directed their officers to exercise due diligence in responding to posts on social media after it was found that many were needlessly engaging with unverified cyber entities.

Delhi Police's Twitter handle has a followership of 5,64,800 Twitter users. "It has played an effective role in disseminating information, rebutting falsehoods, educating citizenry about emerging crimes, publishing advisories and in the redressal of grievances," police said, adding that the Facebook page of Delhi Traffic Police is followed by more than 2.82 lakh users.