By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: To change the critical perception that people have towards men-in-uniform, there is a need for reforms in policing.
Stating this, during the 38th Passing-Out Parade of the North Eastern Police Academy (NEPA) at Barapani, Shillong the Meghalaya Governor, RS Mooshahary. While stating that it should be the initiative of a police officer to first reform his/her mind, “As police officers, they have to love and be helpful to the people whether they are on duty or off duty, instead of abusing them and that they should take their work as part of their worship”. Mooshahary emphasised while stressing on impartiality and objectivity in application of law.
“A lot of people in India have the perception that the police in India are not doing their duties as expected of them and to change this critical perception, there are certain ‘don’ts’ that a police officer should keep in mind”, Mooshahary said.
“Law should be applied equally to all sections of life and the police officers should never discriminate people on the basis of caste, creed, religion and colour”, he added.
Maintaining that the polices are creations of law, the Governor said a police officer should be aware of the distinction of powers, stating that they don’t derive the power from executive order but their power are statutory, however, “This power must not be abused and should be used for the purpose it was codified”, he added.
Mooshahary stressed on the several things a police officer should refrain from, which included avoiding implicating anyone in false crimes, to prevent letting the criminal go free and to avoid indulging in corruption since it is the biggest drawback of the country.
116 trainee police officers consisting of 38 Dy SP, 60 SI Cadets and 18 ASI took a pledge administered by the Director of NEPA, Atul Kumar Mathur. The basic course trainee officers of the 38th batch are from all the North Eastern states of the country including Sikkim and their one year training in the Academy had commenced from January 30 this year.
Meanwhile, the Director of NEPA, AK Mathur informed that these officers were trained on a well researched module approved by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Government of India.
He also informed that apart from giving them adequate training input in regular subjects like Police Sciences, Legal Studies, Social Studies, Forensic Sciences, Human Behaviour etc, these officers were put through special modules on VIP Security, Economic Offences, handling of explosives, Disaster Management, Counter Insurgency and counter terrorism, Departmental Enquiry, Jungle Camp, Rock Climbing etc.
Out of the 116 cadets, 25 cadets belong to the state of Mizoram, 29 from Sikkim, 22 from Tripura, 36 from Nagaland, 2 from Manipur and 1 from Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh respectively.
Moreover, trophies and medals were also awarded to 17 cadets for their excellence in different fields of their training, of which Dy SP, F Lalbiakzauba bagged the All Round Best, Dy SP Probationer and SI, Anupa Gurung bagged the All Round Best Cadet Sub-Inspector and others.