Campaign against vehicles without standard number plates from August 1

Efforts to build strong relationship between police and people is important, says police chief

KARACHI: The newly-appointed Karachi Police Chief, Ghulam Nabi Memon, has directed citizens to obtain the standard number plates for their motorcycles and cars, issued by the excise department, by July 31. A campaign against cars and motorcycles not bearing the standard number plates will be started from August 1.

In a meeting headed by Memon at South DIG office, detailed reports were presented by the DIGs regarding their relevant zones. They informed the meeting about the problems they faced and their overall performance. All the zonal DIGs, administration DIG, district and investigation SSPs and SPs were in attendance.

The police chief stressed on bringing about a change in the thana culture (police station culture). He said that no significant change has been witnessed in the area despite strong efforts being made in this regard. He added that the citizens and police have still not been able to develop trust despite the sacrifices the police have made.

Memon said that efforts should be made to build a strong and friendly relationship between the police and people. The police chief issued further directions that police officials be briefed daily before they are deployed on duty points. The officials deployed at places of worship should be stationed at a safe point, he added. The weapons assigned during their duty should be checked regularly and refresher courses of weapon handling and firing should be offered.

The police chief said that the surveillance of snap checking points would be done personally by the relevant SHOs and SDPOs. All the CCTV cameras installed in the city should be checked and cleanliness in the lockups should be ensured. All the relevant SSPs and SPs should visit their police stations and assess the problems and conditions there.

The security of banks should also be checked from time to time and a police official should be assigned the task of checking CCTV cameras and their recordings according to the standard operating procedure.

Policemen and officials will be awarded prizes for good performance while strict departmental action will be taken against officials involved in corruption and those found guilty of misuse of power and authority, said Memon.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2019.