With new training techniques, Maharashtra police aim to change with the times

The Maharashtra police is upgrading its training techniques, aiming to meet international standards and bringing its force up to speed with the skill sets required for efficient policing in the 21st century.  (File)

The Maharashtra police is upgrading its training techniques, aiming to meet international standards and bringing its force up to speed with the skill sets required for efficient policing in the 21st century. Police Training Schools in the state are now organising ‘Teaching Crafts’ workshops aimed at grooming the 350-odd teachers who currently impart training at the 15 training schools in Maharashtra.

“With changing times, policing is also changing. Today, a policeman must acquire both administrative and leadership qualities while policing, and the best time to instill these skill sets is when they are being trained. That is when the idea of ‘Teaching Craft’ germinated,” said Saravanasamy Jaganathan, Additional Director General of Police, (Training and Development), Maharashtra Police. “Through the workshops, the trainers are being groomed so that they can impart training that will help shape the force as per today’s requirements,” Jaganathan added.

Part of the police modernisation drive, the state police has roped in Dale Carnegie Training India, a leading global training institute that has conceptualised and customised their workshops for policemen.

“While the trainers are mostly erstwhile policemen with excellent domain knowledge, the workshops aim at making training a more engaging and interactive exercise. Lectures should not be monologues, and therefore the onus is on the trainers to engage the new recruits into dialogues so that the sessions become interesting. The aim of these workshops is to benefit the final participants who are the young, freshly-recruited policemen,” said Mizab Bhoje, business consultant, Dale Carnegie Training India.

The workshops have a three fold agenda — to help the teacher master their subject, to introduce them to the use of audio-visual aids like PowerPoint presentations, animations videos and so on, and also to make teaching more interactive. “There is a tendency amongst new recruits to bunk lectures if they are boring. We are teaching the trainers to use props, conducts group discussions, have role plays and conduct question-answer sessions so that their lectures are not monotonous,” Bhoje said.

“With technology at our disposal, there is a need that we use it and better our standards. At these workshops, we are imparting our teachers training on how to make presentations to improve their lectures or use videos or audio to make their sessions interactive,” said another official from the DGP office, who spoke on the subject requesting anonymity.

“Even policemen need to be taught leadership and administration techniques which are taught in business schools. Policing is changing and therefore, their curriculum and the way they are being taught also requires to have a paradigm shift,” the official added.

According to officials, around 55 teachers have already been trained and more are being trained in batches. “‘Teaching Craft’ comprises of two workshops held during the course of five days and is being conducted in batches. In one batch, not more than 30 teachers are being trained as we aim to concentrate on every teacher individually so that they can take maximum benefit from the course,” the official said.

While the trainers participate in the five-day programme, there is also a post-analysis conducted to see if the trainers have included these practices in their lectures. “Post-workshop analysis is conducted to ensure that the trainers follow what is being taught at the workshop,” said Bhoje.

The training schools including Police Training Schools (PTSs) which impart basic training from the rank of constables to assistant sub-inspectors, and the Maharashtra Police Academy which provides basic training from the rank of sub-inspectors to deputy superintendents. Other than the basic training schools, the Maharashtra Police also has have specialised training schools like the Maharashtra Intelligence Academy (MIA), Pune, that trains in intelligence gathering and counter-terrorism, and Unconventional Operations Training Centre (UoTC), Nagur, which trains forces like C-60 commandos who are engaged in unconventional warfare, and an in-house training centre for Force One, imparting specialised training to the Force One commandos in handling hostage situations and close combat operations.