Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Police blog


Via DesiPundit (it's a Tamil post), we learn of the official blog of the Dakshina Kannada Police, probably the first such blog by any police organization in India. Congratulations to Mr. B. Dayananda IPS, Superintendent of Police, Dakshina Kannada district, for this wonderful initiative. I would love to have congratulated him by leaving a comment, but commenting is not allowed there.

The blog's first post was posted less than a week ago. There are already about a dozen posts (and some of them are in a language that my browser doesn't display properly; they are probably in Kannada). Most of them appear to be press releases (including the first post). Here is an excerpt from the first post:

The D.K District Police with long years of professional police experience has got its own standing in the history of Karnataka State Police. In this communally hyper sensitive District, the police are always on their toes to maintain peace and tranquility, combat underworld activities and maintain general law and order.

[...]

In order to further strengthen this bond with the press, DK Police has come up with the novel idea of using the information technology to reach out to the press and public at the same time. A new web log (blog) has been created on the internet having URL http://spdk.blogspot.com. In this weblog, all important matters relating to the District Police will be regularly posted which can be easily accessed by the media people. By this, authentic, accurate and official information of the department can be given to the press swiftly.

While I welcome this new mode of communication from the police to the public, I also feel sad that the reverse flow of communication through comments (particularly anonymous comments) has been disabled. As I said, it is still early days, and it could yet evolve into a better blog with time.

4 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...

    I think it's an interesting development. What makes me happy is the fact that lakhs or rupees haven't been spent on some web-designer firm to give it a swanky look - which means content is higher priority.

    My guess is that after six months of existence - They will either be punched by "higher authorities" or move to their own website..

    Yes. Me like.

  2. Anonymous said...

    I remember reading this in The Hindu and then saw it on DP as well

  3. Abi said...

    Neha: I certainly hope they won't have to shut down their blog because of pressure from the higher ups. On the other hand, the Mangalore SP might fall in love with his blog so much as to expand his web footprint.

    Kaps: Are you referring to this report from a couple of weeks ago? I too saw it, and ever since then, I have been keen to see how this Police Blog works out!

  4. Anonymous said...

    I AM A RESIDENT OF MANGALORE FOR LAST 25 YEARS. BEING FROM A MIDDLE CLASS I USED TO BUY FROM HAWKERS. TODAY THERE WAS AN INCIDENT. I WAS TRYING TO BUY BADAM MANGOES ON THE ROAD TO MARKET BY THE SIDE OF LADY GOSHEN HOSPITAL. THE HAWKER WAS OPENING THE ZIP OF HIS PANTS AND SHOWING AND ASKING "DO U WANT THIS?" WHEN I ASKED HIM TO PUT BETTER QUALITIES IN THE BAG. LADIES STANDING NEAR ME FELT BAD.
    IT IS AN INSULT TO OUR MORALS AND VALUES.IF THOSE LADIES ARE WEARING PURDAH IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DONE.
    KINDLY WATCH THOSE FELLOWS AND TAKE SOME ACTION. LAST 25 YEARS I NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH A THING