Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police Thursday appointed 246 women Special Police Officers (SPO) from 30 institutions to curb rising incidents of crime against women. The SPOs have been selected from colleges, IT and call centres in the city under the initiative – Women Empowerment for Gender Sensitive or WE-GSP.
Speaking on the launch of the programme, DGP Abhay said, “The priority of Odisha Police is to make women feel secure.”
He also commended Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi for launching the WE-GSP programme as part of a series of the state police initiatives for the future.
He also informed newsmen that the Odisha police have sent teams to study prevalent police systems in UP, Delhi and Telangana.
Violent crimes against womenfolk will be accorded top priority by the police; but it will also focus on non-violent crimes like day-to-day harassment restricting growth of women. Sarangi said the SPOs were appointed initially for a period of three months and would be given extension.
The SPOs who were given powers of police officers under the Odisha Urban Police Act will “act as eyes and ears of regular police on the sphere of crime against women.”
Although the SPOs would not get any salary, they will assist police in case of eve-teasing and harassment of women at workplaces and will inform police about such incidents for appropriate action. The SPOs will also provide necessary assistance to the victims.
Commissioner Sarangi said the police will remain in touch with the SPOs, who were given appointment letter, through WhatsApp group and Facebook pages. Commissionerate Police will organise special programmes in colleges to create awareness about the system. The SPOs were provided with special T-Shirts and appointment letters.
Meanwhile, the recruits have expressed their happiness over the new role and asserted that the initiative will rein in rising crime against women and girls in the city.
