Giving a much needed push to night policing in the city, senior city police officials and their subordinates have been on the roads since Monday after the police brass, as a crime prevention strategy, decided to increase visible policing at night.
“It has generated good result. We managed to book many drunken drivers and arrest scores of criminals against whom warrants were pending,” said a senior official.
“At almost every junction the police stopped my vehicle after 11.30 on Wednesday night. It was irritating but I also felt safe seeing policemen on the road,” said a citizen returning home from his office at Egmore late at night.
Motorists have been surprised to notice policemen at every junction in the city in the last few nights. “There were policemen every 300 to 400 meters. They were stopping and making enquiries with two wheeler riders at every point,” noted Mr Vasudevan, a resident of Porur.
“Police teams were deployed at around 80 points on Wednesday night. The deployment is improving daily. We want the public to feel a sense of security when they see police on the roads at night,” noted City Police Commissioner S. George, who feels that visible policing at night can deter crimes in the city.
Apart from regular police, Home Guard volunteers are also used for night policing. On Wednesday night, a sub inspector and a home guard volunteer apprehended miscreants who had surrounded a couple on OMR.
“The couple, working in a software firm, was walking on OMR; they had drifted to a small street when a gang surrounded them. A taxi driver noticed it and informed the nearby patrol team which rushed to the spot. Seeing the police the gang members fled the scene though the cops managed to catch one member. The night deployment helped rescue the couple from the gang,” a police official noted.