A set of instructions has been issued to address the perceived poor control of station house officers (SHOs) over the functioning of their police stations in the Ernakulam Range covering Kottayam, Alappuzha, Idukki and Ernakulam Rural.
The subject was discussed in detail during a monthly crime review meeting chaired by the Ernakulam Range DIG Putta Vimaladitya at his office on September 19.
It was found that many of the SHOs were not aware of what was happening in their police stations. “This is primarily because the SHOs are not following the traditional methods of effective management of day-to-day functions of the police personnel,” the minutes of the meeting read.
As part of the instructions, SHOs have been asked to note down in detail the specific duties assigned to each officer in their respective notebooks every morning. Police personnel on their part shall invariably carry their notebooks while on duty. They should write down all the details of the work done during the course of the day and submit the notebooks before the SHOs upon returning from their duty.
“While writing the notebook the next day, the SHO should verify the work done on the previous day and suggest improvement, if any, is needed. The SHO should mention his/her instructions in the notebook. If the SHO is not mentioning anything, it means that he/she is satisfied with the performance and any poor performance of the said police personnel reflects on the SHO himself/herself.”
The sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) should verify the notebooks during his/ her visits and during Friday parades. The SDPO should make the remarks on the notebook with regard to the performance of the said police personnel and the supervision of the SHO on the work of the said police personnel. If not complied with, this would amount to poor supervision and any dereliction of duty by the personnel would reflect on the poor supervision of the SDPO, the instructions said.
The SDPOs and the District Police Chiefs, while visiting the police stations, should check the notebooks of the police personnel present at the police station and make remarks. In essence, the notebook should reflect the work done by the police personnel and the supervision by the SHO and the SDPO.
The meeting observed that since the introduction of general diary (GD) in CCTNS (crime and criminal tracking networks and systems), no SHO is writing any entry in the GD. There is no computer in the SHO desk to make these entries because of which the SHOs had been in the dark about the significant happenings in the police station.
Hence, the SHO should have one computer allotted to his desk without fail. The SHO should make the GD entry every morning and check the entries made on the previous day without fail. While visiting the police stations, the SDPOs and the DPCs shall also write about their visit to the police station in the GD.
