Like other units in the city, the Dongri police too was stressed, understaffed and overworked till a few months ago. However, with a little encouragement, the division has begun to shine.
From January, personnel from the division have been getting together every month, celebrating their colleagues’ successes, discussing issues and listening to motivational talks. And in just two months, detection of serious crimes in the division has gone up to 100%.
The sessions are the brainchild of Assistant Commissioner of Police Avinash Dharmadhikari who took charge in June last year. Mr. Dharmadhikari said small rewards go a long way in motivating a stressed police force. “Attendance was low in the first month, but gradually, the staff has started showing interest. This has improved healthy competition among them and there has been 100% detection of serious crimes since then,” Mr. Dharmadhikari said. Since January, all serious crimes registered with both police stations in the division — Dongri and J.J. Marg — including murder, attempt to murder, rape and robbery, have been detected.
The fifth session of the year was held on May 4 at the Dongri police station, where personnel from both the police stations were rewarded for their efforts in enforcing bandobast during the Lok Sabha polls and the Indian Premier League.
The session included a talk by Ketan Gawand, director and trainer at Jakmoira Branding Solutions Pvt. Ltd. He spoke about the importance of achieving a work-life balance. He said regular exercise, healthy diet, meditation, gratitude and self-examination will help them build a positive future. “Negativity breeds negativity. These police officers are surrounded by criminals and offenders all the time, which makes them vulnerable to negative energy. It is important that they disconnect from this environment and do something positive in life,” Mr. Gawand told The Hindu after his talk.
Police Inspector Shashikant Padave said, “The monthly meetings are building us as a community and we are being trained to mould our behaviour according to the responsibilities.” He said the Dongri division sees many drug peddling activities, especially by Nigerians who are physically strong and tend to assault the policemen.
Police sub-inspector Nilesh Bhalerao of the J.J. Marg police station said the initiative has made him feel like 60% of his workload has become manageable. “I experienced a lot of motivation to work because of awards and activities in the meetings.”