Toothless cop kiosks of little help in distress - Limited powers defeat purpose of booths

Most Calcutta police kiosks exist only in name, manned by personnel who are usually unarmed and allegedly not inclined to even record a complaint by a citizen in distress.

This shocking deficiency in policing came into sharp focus last Sunday night, when a constable posted in a kiosk near the Vidyasagar Setu toll gate washed his hands of an incident in which a trucker rammed into a senior journalist’s car twice and threatened to run him over.

Not only did the constable refuse to help the victim, a senior editor with The Telegraph, he didn’t bother making a diary entry either. The cop, who had cited jurisdictional restrictions for not trying to stop the accused, asked the journalist to visit Hastings police station, 4km away, to file a complaint. By then, the trucker and his trailer were out of sight.

Metro spoke to several senior officers on Wednesday to find out the services police kiosks, introduced in the city in 2005, are supposed to offer citizens. On paper, a kiosk is meant to be almost an extension of the nearest police station, manned by an officer of the rank of assistant sub-inspector and two constables each. A kiosk is also supposed to be open 24x7.

“It is not compulsory for officers below the rank of sub-inspector to be armed, though it is advisable to carry a weapon if one is doing duty in an area where crime is a possibility,” an officer said.

But most personnel, including those posted at important junctions like Vidyasagar Setu, choose not to carry service weapons because of a rule that requires them to deposit these with the police stations once they finish a shift. An arms register is maintained for the purpose in each police station.

“Not carrying a weapon allows a cop to head home after duty without having to drop by at the police station,” the officer said.

So what could the unarmed constable posted at Vidyasagar Setu on Sunday night have done, if not stop the rogue trucker?

“The least he could have done is alert the nearest radio flying squad, the local police station or even the police control room. He had a walkie-talkie to do the needful,” the officer said.

Couldn’t he have alerted his Bengal police counterparts on the other side of the toll plaza?

“Calcutta police and Bengal police use different channels in wireless communication. Calcutta police cannot communicate with Bengal police through wireless sets,” the officer said.

What the constable could have done in that case is use the landline in the kiosk or a cellphone to call the local police station on the other side of the toll plaza.

Lalbazar veterans admitted that personnel posted in the kiosks lacked knowledge about how to operate such assistance booths. “The ASI and his colleagues should be able to assist people in need. A complaint written on a sheet of paper will be treated as a general diary once forwarded to the local police station,” the officer said.

A kiosk team cannot, however, seize a rogue driver’s licence or detain him. “The law doesn’t allow any officer below the rank of sub-inspector to seize a driving licence or detain a person unless the offence is very serious,” the officer said.

As Sunday night proved, not having that power, and the inclination to make a difference, defeat the purpose of setting up a kiosk.