18th May 2017
With a view to enhancing women’s safety and security, the state of Kerala in India have introduced a new division called the Pink Police Patrol.
In an innovative step towards ensuring women safety, the Kerala police have set a new international standard with their new addition, the Pink Police, in their three main cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The Pink Police comprises only female officers who patrol in pink coloured cars and also carry a special badge on their shoulders.
This all-female crime fighting police patrol, was officially introduced by the state government on 15th August 2016 and was meant to cater to females only while providing timely response, action, total security and safety .
“Women understand the problems of women the best and we can deal with them best,” said Sabina S, a member of the Pink Police. Currently the Pink Police comprises of 31 policewomen who have been trained and are working in 12 hour shifts from 8 am -8 pm across both the cities.
The female Civil Police Officers have all undergone special training for the project and have been deployed in targeted specific vulnerable areas within the city.
Besides the public places like bus stops, busy streets etc, they also travel in public transport buses during the peak hours of the day, that is, 08.00 am to 07.00 pm.
The female officers have also been assigned pink branded Police vehicles equipped with continuous tracking devices, front and back cameras and also a dedicated control room for complete 24, 7 monitoring.
According to G. Siva Vikram, Deputy Commissioner of the Kerala Police, each vehicle has three female police officers assigned to a shift. The patrol vehicles are deployed in areas that have high presence of women and function from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The effort has proved highly successful in curbing violence against women and the project has added a sense of security for all commuters and city dwellers.
They also have a dedicated helpline number ‘1515’ that would alert the nearest patrol team. Kerala police stated that the Pink Police patrol will be extended to other cities in the state in the following months.
