Whitefield police in Bengaluru are collaborating with communities in the area to curb crime and to make people become more aware of their surroundings. The proposal was jointly mooted by police and Whitefield Rising. Under the initiative ‘Neighbourhood Watch’, security guards from residential apartments located in the area will assist police constables to prevent crime.
Currently, Group A of Whitefield will be part of this initiative. Six housing complexes around Forum Value Mall – Prestige Ozone, Veracious Rosedale, Lansdale, Chaitanya Armadale, Brigade Harmony and Vijetha Elysium – will work with the cops from this week in a bid to make their locality safer.
A volunteer from WR, Anupama Kilaru, said “This is an ambitious project for us; we hope this will benefit the locality. We want this initiative to be adopted in every ward of the city as this has a huge potential to curb crime. This collaboration will give confidence to security guards to be prepared during minor crimes like theft. Most often, if a theft happens, the security guard runs away but with this programme it will give them confidence to fight the offender. Even the security guards will feel good about their job.”
Furthermore, the initiative will also include regular neighbourhood meetings and crime watch meetings with representatives of various resident welfare associations and police representatives. One of the major concerns raised was the safety of the security guards who will be part of this initiative. Whitefield inspector Narasimha Murthy said, “The security guards will do night patrol with a constable with their eyes and ears open but will not be given any arms or power. The guards will either do walk patrolling or motor bike patrolling to keep an eye on suspicious activity that occurs during the night. We take full responsibility about the safety of the security guard and ensure that this initiative becomes a huge success.”
