Siliguri, Dec. 12: The gruff voice that takes down complaints over the telephone at the police station and explains with a deadpan delivery that the case will be looked into is set to become well-behaved.

Policemen, the ones down the ladder, in four district of north Bengal are at present attending courses to learn “telephone manners” and develop PR skills, in an effort to better relations with the masses while on duty.

That the exercise is serious is evident from the recruitment of PR experts by the police to help them make the changeover.

Senior police officers of Malda, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar have been asked to hold “special sessions” with juniors at police stations in a bid to impress upon them the need for “effective and polite conversation techniques”.

Inspector general of police (north) Bhupinder Singh told The Telegraph: “It is true that low rank officials are often impolite to complainants. There might be varied reasons for that kind of behaviour but the attitude must change. At present, police officials in all 72 police stations in north Bengal are undergoing special training to improve their conversation over telephone.”

“The training is supposed to make the average policemen understand the importance of good conversation and help them develop the habit of patiently hearing out queries and complaints. In the process, we are seeking help from a few PR agencies. Our senior officers have also been requested to talk to the policemen on good manners and conversation techniques,” Singh added.

The sessions are focussing on the basics of telephone manners, cultivate various self-improvement tactics, including meditation, and basic PR skills.

Darjeeling superintendent of police Rajeev Mishra said: “We are trying to make our men understand the importance of better interaction with people. Efforts are on to overhaul the image of the policeman at the thana.”