With the exposure to inclement weather conditions for long hours taking a toll on the health of police personnel, the Tamil Nadu police have included hazards of pollution in the training module for new recruits.
The Police Training College has included pollution as a subject in the training protocol to create awareness about the safety aspects.
Data generated by the annual health check-up done for the one lakh plus personnel over the years pointed to a sharp increase in ailments such as hypertension and diabetes, a senior police officer said on Sunday.
Training for about 8,773 Grade-II police constables, including 2,432 women and transgenders, who cleared the recruitment process conducted by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board, would commence soon at 32 centres across the State.
“The training module covers aspects such as balanced diet, stress management and healthy lifestyle. We want the force to be more health-conscious. It is just not protecting themselves from the air and noise, but also enforcing laws to protect the environment,” the officer said.
Considering the need to build a more healthy police-public relationship, psychologists, retired police officers and academicians would be roped in to sensitise the trainees on their behaviour towards the public, particularly senior citizens, women, children, media persons and petitioners.
Awareness about new welfare schemes of the government would be given, besides educating the police on their duties.
With more cybercrime cases emerging at different levels, educating new recruits about the challenges had become imperative. Investigating cyber offences would be part of the coaching on Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) and other digital platforms.
The focus would be on keeping the police abreast of the latest developments in investigation and technology, besides fine-tuning their attitude and approach towards the common man, the official said. After the one year training, the police personnel would be posted to the Armed Reserve strength and Tamil Nadu Special Police battalions.