A day before his retirement, outgoing director-general of police Rajeev Kumar told officers through a video conference that police should have been “more assertive” when it came to the “access control” during Lionel Messi’s event at the Salt Lake Stadium in December.

Kumar was addressing his colleagues and subordinates, down to the officers in charge of police stations across Bengal.

“Sir emphasised the need for stricter access control during the (Lionel) Messi event. He said the access control should have been more tight at the stadium. He said that if the police declare once that no one else should enter, that should be implemented,” said a Bengal police officer.

On December 13, Messi’s event at the Salt Lake Stadium was cut short as too many people had breached his security perimeter and come too close to the Argentine footballer.

The football great left the stadium in a huff. Thousands of people who had paid upwards of ₹10,000 for a glimpse of the star returned feeling cheated.

DGP Kumar and Bidhannagar Police commissioner Mukesh were showcaused for the fiasco.

Bidhannagar deputy commissioner Aneesh Sarkar was suspended and departmental proceedings were started against him.

Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer of the Bengal cadre, will retire on Saturday.

Kumar said on Friday that policing these days was “easy as well as tough”. “‘It (policing) is easy because of technology. The phone and the CCTV make it easier to work. But at the same time, the technology makes us vulnerable. We are also under the glare of being noticed and recorded,” an officer quoted Kumar as saying at the virtual meeting.

Kumar told the officers that “courage” was the most important quality a policeman should have.

“He said that a police person should have the courage to stand by his decisions and listen to the call of his conscience,” said another officer.

Kumar had said in his farewell address at Alipore Bodyguard Lines on Thursday: “What defines the police is courage. Without courage, the police do not exist. We are the only civil service where we are always ready to sacrifice our lives in the line of duty. That is a matter of pride.”

“Courage does not mean opening fire or engaging in physical disputes. Courage means standing by your own decision. It is not always action; courage is also standing firm,” he added.