Kerala: Post Covid-19, ‘contactless policing’ likely to be norm

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Policing in the state is set to undergo a sea change post Covid-19. A set of standard operating procedures have been issued which have to be followed in day-to-day policing to ensure minimum physical contact between police and public. The guidelines were prepared by a team headed by ADGP (training) B Sandhya and ADGP (administration) Manoj Abraham.
All the units and offices have been instructed that only 50% of manpower of each unit will be on duty on a given day, and arrests and remands should be avoided in minor and bailable cases.
In the case of arrests, the accused should be asked to wear mask and glove, and should be made to sit one metre away from police officers in the vehicle. In lock-ups and interrogation rooms, social distancing needs to be maintained
Police have been asked not to conduct routine checking for document verification, and even if a vehicle has to be intercepted, the officer should maintain a safe distance from the vehicle. A vehicle, if confiscated, should be disinfected before taking it to the station.
The mediation and talks between police and petitioners and the opposite party in a case, would be through online platform, or video conferencing. Also, the document transfer by petitioners will hereafter be through email or WhatsApp to avoid direct contact between police and petitioner.
Even if a person needs to be summoned to station, safety measures should be taken, and the matter should be disposed soon without making the person to wait for long.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the police is regarding protests and riot control. In such cases, they have been asked to wear masks and gloves in addition to riot gear, and use maximum barricades to avoid physical contacts with the protestors. The protestors should be warned in advance about the Covid-19 spread in a crowd, and arresting of protestors should not be a routine exercise as in normal circumstances.
“If arrests are to be made, violent mobsters should be separately targeted, overpowered, and arrested by a separate squad of police officials who should wear a fully covered PPE,” the guidelines say.