Jawed Shamim is now heading the Bidhannagar Police Commisionerate.
Shamim, a 1995 batch IPS officer, was last posted as inspector-general, North Bengal, and replaces Rajeev Kumar, the former commissioner, who now heads the CID.
Soon after taking charge, the new police commissioner has prepared a roadmap to ensure better policing.
“We will focus on law and order situation of the township and its added areas. Cutting down on crime drastically is one of our prerogatives,” Shamim said.
According to him, traffic is the face of a metropolitan city and the traffic conditions of Salt Lake, New Town, Baguiati, Lake Town and the airport area pose their own set of problems and need to be tackled accordingly.
“Traffic flow in Salt Lake and New Town is relatively smoother than other areas falling under the commissionerate. On the other hand, Lake Town and Baguiati are congested. We will try to manage traffic better there,” he said.
The commissioner also pointed to the high concentration of elderly people in Salt Lake and plans to address their problems.
“A lot of aged people reside in the township. Many of them stay alone as their children live either in a different city or abroad. We plan to interact with them on a regular basis and will try our best to solve their problems,” Shamim said.
Police stations are the first point of contact between the public and the police personnel. “I want to build a very strong base by ensuring that police stations function properly. For this, I will ensure that senior officers are more involved in day-to-day policing,” he said.
The people of Salt Lake expect the Bidhannagar police to be at par with Calcutta police in efficiency and Shamim says this would only be possible if they themselves are more involved.
“If someone spots a crime please pick up your phone and dial 100. The residents should interact with us freely to ensure better policing. We also are looking to reduce response time,” he added.
Also in order to make the officers manning the police stations of the area more accountable, the new commissioner wants people to approach senior officers freely.
“Often people look for references to approach senior officers. In case a particular police station is not taking a complaint or is not proactive enough then residents can easily approach the next supervising officer and explain their problem,” Shamim said.
What is your message for the new police commissioner? Write to saltlake@abpmail.com or The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001