Cyber crimes are seeing a downward trend in Bengaluru

While traditional crimes have seen a dip, cyber crimes have recorded an exponential spike over the years. But, said Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, the number of cyber crimes is seeing a downward trend over the last two years and awareness is the key in bringing it down further. In an interaction with TNIE, he spoke about several issues -- from crimes, technology in policing, to the never-say-die drug menace, and, of course, the notorious city traffic. Excerpts. As Bengaluru police commissioner, what are the major challenges you see in the city, and how are the police handling them? Bengaluru is a happening city and has a lot of people from outside and from different professions. If we observe the crime trend in Bengaluru, we have different types of crimes -- cyber crimes related to one sector, bodily offences by construction workers and crimes restricted to particular areas. Crime patterns are changing and police need to keep updating themselves. We are seeing good results. Bengaluru traffic is another major issue. How useful is technology in identifying changing crime patterns? The Integrated Command Centre gives an analysis of crime patterns. We have 320 112 vehicles and we get around 2,000 calls per day. We observed that the crimes are less at night, just 10% of what we see during the day. Based on this, we altered manpower and deputed them to checkpoint duty. Such interventions have helped reduce small crimes. Our initiatives like Safety Island and other safety apps are helping people in distress and allowing us to catch culprits quickly. All these apps are run on artificial intelligence (AI). Right from the call from the public, to the time the vehicle departs to the spot and the feedback is received, everything is managed by AI tech. We can say that our response time is less than 10 minutes within which our men can reach any spot in Bengaluru. With the introduction of technology in law enforcement, we are seeing a decrease in the number of on-ground police personnel. Dont you think the presence of police personnel adds to public safety? Its a good point. Since I have become commissioner, I have ensured that foot patrolling goes on in sensitive areas. Technology adds to our work, but we cannot do away with manual policing. We do have nearly 23,000-strength force in the city and want it deployed on the streets as much as possible. We have to make ourselves visible and serve our beats. Technology and manpower go hand-in-hand. What is being done to address Bengalurus infamous traffic? As of now, there is a lot of infrastructure work going on. After the Greater Bengaluru Authority was formed, the city has been split into five corporations and there is improved coordination among parastatal agencies. Anything that affects free flow of traffic is immediately addressed. Our traffic police are advised not to focus on booking cases, but managing traffic. The long-term measures are upgrading police stations, increasing staff and automating traffic signals. Our Cobra bikes will focus on illegally parked vehicles obstructing traffic. We have identified 96 high-density corridors in the city where towing will start soon. What is your view on road rage? In my opinion, traffic congestion has to be blamed partly (as it frustrates people). We take road rage seriously. Hoysala patrol vehicles help a lot by reaching the spot quickly and defusing the situation. Given the transition of BBMP into GBA, do you think the Bengaluru police could benefit from restructuring as well? We operate at the station level. Our network and pattern of operation is entirely different. We just need to keep parity with the increase in population by adding more police stations. I dont think there is a problem at this juncture. We have informed deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) that GBA commissioners know their areas well and that their operation is entirely different from our work. You mentioned that police stations can be added. When will that need be felt? Are you in conversation with the government regarding this? You must have noticed the addition of three police stations on the outskirts of the city. We dont need to add more stations within the city for now, but the strength of the force can be increased sufficiently. It is adequate as of now, but we can add more to serve specialised wings coming up. We will do it as and when required. One in four crimes are cyber crimes. What is being done to curb them? The number of cyber crimes has gone down this year and it reduced even last year. We can say that there is increased awareness among the public as they dont share OTPs easily now. However, cyber fraudsters are innovating ways to fool people. We have instructed our officials that immediately after they find out a new modus operandi, people should be informed through social media along with solutions to avoid it. What demographics do fraudsters belong to? Fraudsters and criminals are not based here, but victims are. Its perhaps because the city is financially developed due to the number of IT employees here. New modus operandi (MO) come up every day. We have mandated our departments to post on social media every time a new MO comes up, so that people are aware and do not fall victim. Every week, we have a cyber cell meeting to discuss new developments. Can you tell us a bit about the Mane Manege Police programme? The programme is almost one-and-a-half-months old. It is going on well, and it is very intensive. We are prioritising senior citizens and desolate people. A good example of the programmes efficacy was a drug bust we succeeded in based on information and valuable leads secured from the programme. Since you mention drugs, how big a problem is it in Bengaluru? It is not specific to Bengaluru. Nevertheless, it is a place where both transit and consumption happen rampantly; it is quite a serious issue. We cannot blame any specific community, but many foreign nationals here on expired visas are culpable. International courier and road transport are also major routes. This year, we have seized more than Rs 81 crore worth of drugs. We urge people to report such cases, under the promise of anonymity. We are also banking on inter-agency cooperation (involving the Narcotics Control Bureau, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, etc) to tackle this. It has to be a joint effort. We also look inward: 11 of our staff have been dismissed because they were found to have links with drug peddlers. When we have zero tolerance towards drugs, involvement of our men cant be tolerated. This must have also sent a message to our staff who are engaging in such illegal activities. It is a continuous process. Your counterparts in Mangaluru and Belagavi are conducting random blood sample tests on students and others. How do you look at it? Do you propose to do it in Bengaluru? It is a very ticklish issue. In my opinion unless and until we have specific information we must not go ahead as it is invading the privacy of someone. The Mangaluru and Belagavi police must have had some information. When we have information here, we take our Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team. Recently, we raided a five-star hotel and a pub and took blood samples. We take blood samples when we have a little bit of information. Randomly doing something is not correct in my opinion. What is the role of citizens in stopping drug menace? Citizens must give information to us, then we will take care of the issue. We will maintain confidentiality. The information can be put on the app of the city police. Details of those giving information will not be known. We have to see how a drug consumer is trapped and how to get him/her out of it. The department has tied up with rehabilitation centres. We have Well Being Officers, who keep interacting with our own staff who may have all kinds of problems. Some of them may be addicted to liquor. We have got information about some people who are into drugs through the Well Being Officers. It is very difficult to get peddlers, who use online platforms like dark net to supply drugs. We have very good technology with our crime branch. We use decoy customers and monitor online platforms. How do you compare the crime scene in Bengaluru with other metro cities? In my experience of working in Bengaluru, it is a safe place compared to other cities. It is a cosmopolitan city. People from everywhere work here and are busy with their own professions. A crime here is highlighted because of the IT sector and the city being on the world map. The police are careful here and do not take chances. We are very sensitive to issues, especially regarding women and children. The department has a lot of infrastructure. The city is geographically not so big compared to other cities. We can cover each and every area fast. Not only now, it has always been safe here. This is the reason why so many people come and settle here. Are crimes like the killing of spouses or those related to college students on the rise in Bengaluru? Is it a worrying trend? Spouse killings are all personal issues. We are in a society where no one has time for each other. Bengaluru is a happening city. Now nothing is a taboo. It is a pan-India phenomenon, not specific to Bengaluru. It is happening even in rural areas. The city has a lot of cultural mix as people from everywhere come here. Colleges should take up sensitisation issues. Recently, some students were involved in an incident and the college was asked to take action against students. Some police stations like SG Palya, Soladevanahalli and KR Puram have only educational institutions under their jurisdiction. Most of the time, policemen will be interacting with students. In some instances, the police have called parents of students when they are caught for something. Is the number of women in the police force increasing? Yes. Of the 25 DCPs in the city, five are women. All new recruitments are being done with the 33% new quota for women. Did you always want to be a police officer, or were you interested in any other profession? Since my childhood, I wanted to be in the administrative services. I was fascinated by government jobs in uniform since my father was in the Army. How much time do you get to spend with your family? I make sure to take time out and enjoy moments with my family. We work under a lot of pressure, so I always tell my juniors to spend time with their families. How do you handle a crisis? I strongly believe in teamwork. When we face a crisis, I call my joint commissioners, and we sit together to discuss solutions. I also encourage them to discuss matters with their subordinates. We have a workforce of around 23,000. What the commissioner says should reach the last constable. Without interacting with juniors and understanding the intensity of a problem, we cant find effective solutions. In fact, many of the best solutions come from my junior staff. I always tell my officers to stay positive. There are always challenges in the police department because people come to us only when they are in trouble. The police is one of the departments high in corruption. After taking charge, you suspended 18 staff. What measures are you taking to curb corruption? I can say I am a different kind of officer. I dont operate through victimisation. When I initially took charge, some of my friends and colleagues asked me why I wasnt suspending officers. I told them I dont suspend just to create fear. I suspended officials only after three months, and that too after giving them sufficient instructions and warnings. I called meetings from constables to ACPs and made my priorities and dos and donts very clear. Still, a few people went astray. I feel we should not be vindictive and give them a chance. You played a major role in Covid relief work. How was your experience? During the pandemic, my phone number became viral across Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. People used to call me thinking its a helpline. I used to get scolded: Sir, why didnt you bring my food? Many were from lower-income backgrounds and in desperation, so I knew I had to help directly. I coordinated volunteers, local shops and technology partners to distribute dry ration kits. We handled over 10,000 calls per day. For example, requests from Bihar were sent to the nearest SHO, who collected food packets from shops in our tech backup list and delivered them. Having IT-savvy youngsters as partners helped manage calls and coordinate responses efficiently. It was very satisfying to see relief reach those who needed it the most.