Police stations get makeover to change image among public

In an initiative that would change the general impression of police stations with abandoned vehicles, cracking chairs, case files gathering dust and impatient police officers, the stations across the city are sporting a fresh look to become people-friendly with a pleasant ambience.

The initiative started when the city Corporation seized vehicles parked in the police stations that were acting as breeding grounds for mosquitoes as part of a fumigation process, police officers told DT Next. Following this, the city police tied up with the Corporation to remove all the abandoned vehicles.

“Abandoned and unclaimed vehicles were handed over to the Corporation as we could not trace the owners for many of them,” said A Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner (Headquarters), Greater Chennai Police. Earlier, we had to take the vehicles involved in crime cases to the court whenever the case comes up. Now, we can hand it over to the owner and produce only the photograph in the court, he added. The Corporation has identified three places to keep all the abandoned vehicles.

More than 13,000 vehicles were removed from 135 police stations freeing up the space. “This itself gave a fresh look to the stations,” said police officers. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police AK Viswanathan ordered the inspectors to make use of the empty space to prove an appealing look to the stations.

“We asked the police officers to take care of the basic facilities like a reception desk to help the visitors, chairs for them to wait, drinking water, wide parking area, a proper board differentiating stations from other buildings and an inquiry room for inspectors. A few inspectors have taken an extra effort to give a complete make over for their respective stations, especially in Taramani and Elephant Gate,” said the Deputy Commissioner.

“The station was last painted in 2006 while repair works were carried now and then. So, we decided to paint the entire premises. The ground was levelled and paver blocked were laid. As Flower Bazaar police station is one of the important stations located in the heart of the city, we decided to create a park near the entrance. We also placed two statues of women holding pots in the garden,” said Flower Bazaar inspector Ravi talking about the renovation work to DT Next.

Internet protocol CCTV cameras and speaker system to make announcements from the stations have also been installed in all the stations. Now, plans are under way to install solar-powered CCTV cameras that can function without power supply, the inspector said. He added that there are plans to set up a tuition centre in the police station for schoolchildren living on the pavements.  Similary, the Vadapalani police station has a gym, play area for kids and Taramani police station has a well-maintained garden.

Managing the Puzal police station, which spreads across 2.4 acre, was itself a herculean task. However, the officers used convicted prisoners in the Central Prison to give the station a facelift. The prisoners were roped in to paint the entire police station premises. “They also drew paintings to create awareness on sexual abuse of minors, importance of CCTV cameras, saving water and following traffic rules,” said inspector M Nataraj.

After more than 300 abandoned vehicles were handed over to the Corporation, a park was set up in the premises with a fountain, fish tank and birds. “As there is a central prison in Puzhal police station limits, the Commissioner wanted to make it a model for other stations and we followed his instructions,” said inspector M Nataraj. We also have a plan to build lounge for police personnel to take rest in between the shifts, he added.