Chennai

In a bid to improve surveillance and reduce crime on Marina beach, a few female constables have been posted atop temporary watchtowers, and have been entrusted with binoculars, a job their male counterparts have not been selected for. 

“At present we are only posting woman cops for this duty as we do not want unnecessary allegations to come up as men may use the binoculars to watch some other activities on the beach,” a police official attached to the city police said. They believe that the woman cops will not ogle, and will be more diligent about surveillance. 

“The idea of the watch towers is to monitor the crowd and to prevent crime at the crowded beach. So we need our officials posted on the tower to have a sharp eye to look out for anti-social elements in the crowd,” the official added. 

At present, five towers have been erected at Marina and two more would come up shortly. A woman cop has been posted on each tower with a pair of binoculars. “This will give the public a sense of security that help is close at hand. And from an elevated position, the cop on duty can monitor the area better,” a senior police official told DTNext. 

On weekdays, around 15-20 police personnel will be on surveillance duty. While one will be on guard on top of the watchtower, the others will be on ground and will be responsible for flushing out troublemakers and criminals. During week-ends, when the beach is more crowded, around 50 police personnel will be on duty.

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