“Women understand women better.” Taking this concept forward, the Jaipur police have introduced a women patrol team which will empower city women and make them feel at ease at various city locations.
After Udaipur police launched women patrols in October 2016, Jaipur police joined the bandwagon by launching women patrolling team to thwart eve-teasing in the city.
A proper plan has been devised to depute these women cops at the most vulnerable sections of the city.
Gaurav Srivastava, DCP, Jaipur Headquarters said, “We have constituted 26 teams of two policewomen each who will be deputed around the city to specifically deter and prevent crimes against women, such as eve-teasing.”
“The idea is that just their presence should act as a deterrent for any untoward incident. We had undertaken a survey of the places with higher likelihood of crimes against women and have accordingly developed a deputation plan,” he added.
Woman patrols will be present at venues like malls, schools, parks and shpping areas where women flock in huge numbers for leisure or work.
Rajasthan Police Service (RPS) officer Kamal Shekhawat, who will act as the nodal officer for this initiative, said, “We have identified about 200 ‘street harassment’ points in Jaipur where the likelihood of such harassment is higher. More points will be added with time. The women will work in two eight-hour shifts from 7 am to 11 pm.”
“They will roam the areas frequented by women and respond to anyone in distress. They will be assisted by the local police station and the police control room,” said Jaipur Police Commissioner Sanjay Agarwal.
“They were mainly posted outside tourist spots and their SOP included traffic regulation, checking crime, smooth movement of VIPs, etc. However, in our initiative, the sole role of the policewomen is to check crimes against girls and women,” he added.
These vehicles have been donated by Hero MotoCorp Limited in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility initiative introduced in the new Companies Act 2013.
According to the officers, the policewomen will be armed with customised batons. Each team of two will have a scooter, a walkie-talkie set clubbed with a first-aid kit for immediate remedy.
Due to the recent Anti Romeo squad popularizing in the state of Uttar Pradesh, this woman patrol team is often mistakenly called as “Anti Romeo squads”. However, officials expressed their disapproval for linking this initiative to Romeo squad. The officials said that this is not linked with Uttar Pradesh.
