KOLKATA: The cops on the ground are beginning to spend more time in managing law and order with the city witnessing a large number of protests in the last month, and they seem to have learnt a few lessons from the recent past. One of the primary takeaways for Lalbazar is to ensure the safety of its personnel during protests that turn violent. The city police have now decided to allocate Rs 70 lakh-75 lakh to buy 2,000 pieces of body protector jackets, including arm guards and shin guards, for personnel on the ground. Another 2,000 polycarbonate batons and shields have been ordered in the single tender that opened on June 13.
The cops hope to finish the technical demonstration by the end of next month.
The new riot gear, sources said, will be tailor-made to suit conditions here. “The jackets weigh around 2.8kg (the full gear with arm guards and shin guards weigh around 3.3kg). The harness shall be made of engineering-grade polycarbonate and should provide excellent protection against brick batting, stone pelting, and iron rod/cane impact,” the tender document read. The outer and inner parts of the jacket shall be made of gabardine cloth.
Police say their personnel receive injuries mostly when protesters throw stones at them. Even though a section of cops are provided with ballistic helmets, most of these are not designed to take the impact of heavy stones. They only protect the face and head from close-range attacks with sticks or batons. According to policemen, a bulk of the body protectors used by cops across the country is archaic and of little help when attacked on the sides. “Moreover, they are often bulky and impede chases,” said an officer who was deputed at Esplanade’s RR Avenue last week.
While Kolkata Police has discarded wooden sticks in favour of polycarbonate canes and shields, it still makes do with outdated body protectors and cricket helmets in major law-and-order deployment, which needs a high number of personnel and knee and elbow pads.
The cops have been contemplating the purchase of advanced riot control tools, but have been unable to experiment with modern equipment because of a number of reasons, including funds crunch and lack of resources.
