An initiative by the Bandepalya police is likely to be scaled up and extended to all stations under the Bengaluru Police Commissionerate.
Hall of Fame at the Bandepalya police station. (Supplied)
Surya Prakash was mentally prepared for a stressful long haul when he approached the police to report the theft of his car on 10 October.
Prakash, a customer relations manager with a consultancy firm at Kudlu Gate, a bustling upmarket locality in South Bengaluru, had parked his Hyundai Verna at the regular spot in his office basement parking before reporting to work.
It was a hectic Monday for the 26-year-old from Andhra Pradesh. After winding up work, Prakash searched for the car’s ignition key on his desk.
The BCom graduate had been in the habit of leaving the key on his desk once he reached the office — a definite red flag to vehicle owners. On that Monday, too, he had done the same, Prakash was sure.
With the key still missing, the young man decided to check his car and went to the basement parking area, and found the vehicle missing.
Prakash’s previous experiences with the police were not pleasant. He was expecting the same when he went to the Bandepalya police station in the Southeast Division to report the theft.
Little did the man know that he was in for a surprise.
The experience at the station was contrary to the public’s perception of the police.
Surya Prakash. (Supplied)
A woman police officer received him at the station. Prakash briefly reported the matter, and in 10 minutes he found himself heading back to the parking lot with two officers in tow.
The officers collected the CCTV footage and asked the complainant if he suspected someone. He gave a few names. After inspecting the scene, the officers returned and filed a First Information Report, or FIR.
Prakash received a call from the station on 13 October, three days after the complaint was lodged. He was told that his car was found mortgaged to a pawn shop for ₹1.5 lakh. The police had also tracked down the alleged culprit.
The culprit’s name did not surprise Prakash. He had mentioned the name to the police when asked for suspects. The police analysed the CCTV footage collected in and around the parking lot and zeroed in on Prakash’s former colleague.
Monday, 10 October, was the man’s last working day at the consultancy. He had noticed the ignition key on Prakash’s desk, and while leaving, picked it up without being noticed. He, along with a friend from outside, later drove away in Prakash’s car, before mortgaging it.
Prakash’s stolen car was recovered. (Supplied)
The police’s approach and the swiftness with which they acted on his complaint impressed Prakash. The police presented him with a feedback form. An elated Prakash was all praise while answering the questionnaire.
Prakash’s experience was not an aberration, South First has learnt.
Twenty-one-year-old Sameer Ahmed had 26 more consignments to deliver on 11 October, when he asked a security guard at the RR Residency in Hosanagar to keep an eye on his motorcycle.
Sameer Ahmed, a Flipkart delivery boy, was pleasantly surprised by his experience at the Bandepalya police station. (Supplied)
After delivering a shipment at an address in the apartment complex, he returned to his two-wheeler and found Flipkart’s big blue bag attached to the vehicle missing.
A panicked Ahmed rushed to the security guard who had seen nothing. The delivery executive was denied access to the building’s CCTV footage as well, despite repeated, desperate pleas.
A resident of Old Mangammanpalya, Ahmed rushed to the jurisdictional Bandepalya police and complained. “The bag had 26 shipments, including electronic gadgets, worth about ₹27,000 in all,” he told the police.
Though he had filed the complaint as per protocol, Ahmed knew that the value of the missing shipment would be deducted from his monthly pay.
In 30 minutes, a police team arrived at RR Residency with Ahmed. The security guard was forced to part with the CCTV footage. While checking the footage, the police found two bike-borne men speeding away with the bag.
“After confirming the incident, the police promptly filed an FIR. It instilled confidence in my employer, who would otherwise have recovered the loss from me,” Ahmed told South First, adding that the stolen goods were yet to be recovered.
The young man, too, happily provided his feedback.
Both Prakash and Ahmed vouch that the police have changed. The men, however, were unaware that the change had begun at an unlikely place — a car showroom in the city.
Inspector LY Rajesh accompanied a friend to the showroom to buy a car a few months ago. The sales executive there received them with warmth, making them comfortable.
Inspector LY Rajesh. (Twitter)
Once the sale formalities were done, the executive requested their feedback, covering multiple aspects of their experience at the showroom, starting from their arrival.
For days, the executive’s request kept playing in the inspector’s mind. Finding it an efficient way to enhance performance, Rajesh decided to implement it at his station in Bandepalya.
He roped in two of his friends, a software developer and a private firm employee, and they started working on a website, www.darpana.net. It is an “initiative started in February 2022, helped by passionate civilians known as Team Darpana”, the website said.
It also said, “every complainant/citizen visiting the station is requested to provide feedback on the overall experience and the resolution achieved”.
Rajesh, meanwhile, spoke to his team at the station. He was aware that the feedback alone will not usher in the corporate professionalism he had experienced at the car showroom. He wanted to provide a similar experience to those visiting the station.
The team soon drew up a set of guidelines for themselves. Women constables, the first responders, would greet the visitors at the reception area, and get the complaint/reason for the visit in two to three sentences in the feedback form.
The logo of Darpana, an initiative of the Bandepalya police. (Sourced)
A copy of the form would be given to the visitor before he was sent to the station house officer.
“Our time starts at this point. The SHO will decide whether the complaint needs to be filed as a non-cognizable report or an FIR, or if the matter should be escalated to higher-ups,” a senior police officer at Bandepalya said on the condition of anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“The decision-making process is completed in 10-20 minutes,” he told South First.
After arriving at a logical conclusion to the complaint, the complainant would be requested for his/her feedback. “The lesser time to resolve the issue, the better the feedback,” he pointed out.
The feedback questionnaire touches upon the professionalism, transparency and efficiency of the officer concerned.
The idea is to change the public’s perception of the police. The station’s initiative creates a sense of oneness with the police, rather than keeping the public and the officers at different levels.
The initiative’s slogan has captured the intended oneness: “You Reflect Us, We Reflect You.”
The initiative is beneficial for police officers as well. Officers receiving more reviews will be felicitated and rewarded, besides their names finding a place in the Hall of Fame at the station.
“This is a win-win situation for both the police personnel and the visitors. The feedback forms also deter the personnel from delaying the procedures, besides preventing corruption,” he added.
The Bandepalya police’s initiative has caught the attention of senior officers. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast Division) Chandrashekar K Baba is now working on a pilot project to set up a similar online feedback system online, besides developing a mobile application to cover all police stations in his division.
“We want to usher in a corporate style of functioning. We have tried this in our Dial 112 system, which takes feedback from callers. This will help in improving our services to the citizens,” state police chief DG & IGP Praveen Sood told South First.
The top cop has plans to expand the model across the city. “Darpana is the second experiment. The police commissioner is trying to implement it in all stations under his jurisdiction. The idea is to understand what people expect, set targets for ourselves, publicise those targets and achieve higher standards, and look for demands from the public,” he said.
“This will also help us to engage better with the general public,” Sood added.
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