CHANDAN PRAKASH SINGH and SANTOSH SHARMA
singh.chandan@thestatesman.net
New Delhi, 31 July
 
Bhim Sen Bassi (57), a 1977 batch IPS officer, who took charge as the Delhi Police Commissioner today, emphasised on the safety and security of Delhi’ites, particularly when they are outside.
"I do not want to feature much in papers but would enter the streets," he said while interacting with The Statesman. Mr Bassi talked about his priorities, goals and focus areas.
 "Among my priorities, ensuring women’s safety, curbing street crime, auto menace and traffic would be the top concerns so that Delhi’ites feel safe and secure round the clock," said Mr Bassi.
 On the tragic incident of the biker killed by a police bullet,  Bassi expressed regret over the issue. "I regret the police’s action and condole the youth’s death. Police is with his family and would assist them if needed. The deceased was not a criminal," he said
 Mr Bassi said Delhi Police have a  plan to curb stunt bikers’ gangs by deployment of extra barricades, extra policing, round-the-clock vigilance and running of PCR vans throughout the Capital.
 "I urge the youth’s parents and journalists to launch a particular platform in the social media where the consequences of such stunts are highlighted so that they  keep away from such a practice," said Mr Bassi.  
 Asserting that there is a large group in our society that is apparently afraid of the police, citing police’s bad conduct with them, Mr Bassi said he would like to make the police a people friendly agency. "Being in police force, one is not supposed to threaten people but to assist them," he said.
 "I also emphasise that any police personnel found guilty would be punished and stringent action would be taken against him or her. Being the Delhi Police chief, I want criminals to fear the law. I do not agree with the account that crime can be controlled by creating fear of police personnel," said the commissioner.
  Delhi police is already running several schemes including ‘Yuva’ and ‘Jansampark’ by which police are creating a positive image among masses and also providing jobs to several unemployed youths, he said.
The Delhi police is also planning to launch Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (NWS) in the Capital as it was a huge success during his tenure in Chandigarh, said Mr Bassi.
 Describing the concept of NWS, Mr Bassi said it assists police in reducing property crime, fosters police-community relations, increases community spirit and reduces juvenile crime by getting the youth also involved in the scheme.
 The police first identifies a neighbourhood and then contacts its residents in order to motivate them to keep their eyes and ears open to prevent crime. Apart from residential areas, similar schemes can be planned for business areas, apartments and high-rise buildings.  Mr Bassi said it is not logically possible that an agency can cover each and every street of a city by deploying police personnel everywhere, but he emphasised that police would display extra vigilance round-the-clock.
Meanwhile, outgoing  Delhi Police Commissioner, Neeraj Kumar, today said that he was both happy and sad on the last day of his service during his farewell ceremony at NPL parade ground.
 "After 37 years of the police service I have had a mixed feelings. I was happy and sad as well. I am happy because I worked with India’s best police force and worked for 13 months as the Delhi police commissioner. But I’m sad because this is the last day today to wear the police uniform," Kumar said.  
He also said that he had never come across anxiety during the duty, and always thought the 80,000 policemen are always behind him. "I know, we have a lot of errors in our police force. It is our responsibility to correct these errors," he said.
"Public perception is that the policemen are always corrupt, I wanted to gain people’s faith that we were not bad," he added.
Neeraj Kumar, a 1976 batch IPS officer, took charge of Delhi Police from BK Gupta July 1, 2013. His tenure saw the brutal December 16 gang-rape of a young woman, which unleashed unprecedented mass protests in the capital. The woman died while under treatment in Singapore on December 29.