New Delhi: On 3 February, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana interacted with people through a Twitter Spaces session organised by Fever FM, where he answered a series of questions on crime, violence and women’s safety.
The session was monitored by Fever FM content head Sharat and radio jockey Stutee Ghosh. Over 16,000 people tuned in for the session that lasted for nearly an hour.
This was for the first time that a Delhi Police Commissioner was part of a Twitter Spaces session. Twitter Spaces are live audio chats streamed through the microblogging site.
Earlier, Surender Singh Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Operations), Delhi, conducted a Twitter session ‘Ask Me Anything’ on 22 January. It was a part of the initiative where he spoke on the Emergency number — 112 — that started in 2019.
Police officials told ThePrint that Asthana’s interaction on Twitter spaces was a part of the revamp of the Delhi Police’s social media strategy and dialogue to enhance real-time communication between police and citizens. They added the idea to host such sessions was conceived by Asthana.
Speaking to ThePrint, Chinmoy Biswal, PRO, Delhi Police, and Additional CP, Western Range said, “Twitter as a social media platform has an immense audience who are consistently reading news and engaging in dialogue. This initiative is a part of our social media strategy as part of a public outreach programme, revamped in the last two months. Earlier and even now we have officers providing video bytes and podcasts on various topics — cases and otherwise to enhance awareness. However, this is the first time that a Delhi Police Commissioner has come live in an interactive session and covered a range of topics.”
“The digital space is continuously emerging. In order to increase awareness, it was noted that it is imperative that officers go beyond the call of duty, that is keeping eye on social media content for law and order implications, and engage with the public,” Biswal added.
A senior police officer told ThePrint, “Our social media response team works round the clock, in shifts to address concerns. The team comprises 15-20 personnel, working in shifts, consisting of ACPs, inspectors and other staff personnel”.
The officer added that as part of the new social media strategy, these Q&A sessions shall also be organised on Facebook.
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Enhancing netizen police dialogue
During the session, Asthana said that while one per cent of the society makes up for those engaging in criminal activities, 70 per cent of it is involved in thefts, violence over property disputes, and street crimes such as snatching.
He also said that it has been of utmost priority that the capital’s public can work and lead their lives in a safe and peaceful environment.
On questions related to women’s safety, Asthana said, “Police personnel across all ranks are sensitised on dealing with cases of women’s safety — pertaining to crime against women — to respond immediately. We prepare ourselves to enhance safety — preventive actions and to handle situations post offence, and timely devise strategies. We have a total module where – children, women, senior citizens — are being made aware against such crimes. Policing for the weaker sections should be proactive and not reactive”.
“In less than 3 minutes of PCR call, our mobile vehicle reached the crime spot in Shahdara. Most of the accused were arrested from the spot,” he said.
Speaking to ThePrint, Asthana said that these sessions are being done to enhance the netizen police dialogue. He also mentioned that the session garnered immense engagement.
“The interactive session garnered immense engagement. We plan to do these sessions more in the future to enhance netizen police dialogue. Twitter in the digital space has been functional for a while now in terms of public grievances and complaint redressal. Considering this social media presence, we have started this initiative to address social issues pertaining to various fields such as general public security, cyber etc,” Asthana said.
Beyond myopic definition of cyber crime
As part of the initiative, Delhi Police organised another session on 4 February on cyber safety and crimes in digital spaces, which had over 17,000 views and lasted for 42 minutes.
During the session, K.P.S. Malhotra, DCP Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO), Special Cell, answered questions on the Bulli Bai case, social media bullying, cryptocurrency frauds, and discussed the online helpline number 155260 for reporting cases of online cheating and fraud and precautionary measures.
Answering questions on cyber crime, Malhotra said: “Cyber crime is bigger than what we perceive from online frauds. At present, there isn’t any crime that isn’t related to cyber crime,” the DCP said.
“The primary motive behind these sessions are to address general public queries and also inform them about various police-legal procedures. Through this process, we aim to bridge gaps between the public and the police and also ensure awareness. Cyber crime, as we have seen, is a growing field, especially with digital spaces increasing over time,” Malhotra told ThePrint.
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