24 November,2010 06:40 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
Police identify 35 tasks women cops can be adept at by virtue of being more educated than male counterparts, begin with training them for clerk's job that involves spotting and rectifying holes in chargesheets
The city police are making a contribution towards improving the state's dismal conviction rate, and they are banking on women in the force to achieve this.
After a survey identified 35 tasks policewomen can be good at because of their special skills and higher education levels compared to their male counterparts, the police are training women constables to become successful 'crime checklist clerks' to ensure documents, reports and all evidence are in order before a chargesheet is submitted in court.
The police feel such a thorough check will ensure there remain no lacunae, eventually leading to an improved conviction rate.
More women cops
Police insiders say the proportion of women constabulary in the force is increasing and will soon constitute up to 30 per cent of the total.
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They say training sessions as the one that has just begun will also result in giving policewomen a chance to play an important role in investigation and detection, which traditionally have been male preserves.
And the fringe benefit of these steps is that as women get more office work, they will have a better shot at balancing their other responsibilities like home and children.
In the first leg of this project, 28 women constables and head constables have been selected from 14 police stations in Zone I and II who will be trained thoroughly in police procedures to be followed after any offense comes to light.
The training session for crime checklist clerks was organised at the Lashkar police station. All 28 selected policewomen are participating in this six-day workshop.
The workshop was inaugurated by Additional Commissioner of Police Prabhatkumar of North region. DCP Dnyaneshwar Phadatare and Rajeshkumar Mor played an active role in making the workshop happen.
Survey findings
It was Prabhatkumar who worked on the survey that aimed at discovering the areas where the women constabulary can function effectively.
"Conducted over the past month, the survey threw up findings that were presented at a meeting this month," said Prabhatkumar. "Police station in-charges across the city were taken into confidence to finalise 35 jobs where women can function better."
The jobs identified include muddemal assistant, day book keeper and assistant day book keeper, station house officer, assistant duty officers, women's cell staff, writers, phone duty officials, clerks for centralised computer recording and computer record keeping.
The training
First to kick off was the training for crime checklist clerks. The participants were selected on the basis of their educational qualification, with graduates being given priority.
Detection of dacoities and detection of murder cases where the identity of the deceased in not known were discussed at the training session, besides serious crimes like murder and attempt to murder cases.
Senior officers like ACP Ranjeet Dhure and Warje Senior PI Shyam Mohite conducted interactive lectures for the participants.
"Investigation is a skill. If women constables are trained to make successful scrutiny of papers and rectify the common errors that may lead to acquittals, then it will benefit the organisation and society," said Prabhatkumar. "We are going to have a larger women constabulary in future. Ideally, the desired ratio is 50:50 for men and women in the force. As we look set to soon have women making up 30 per cent of our force in the near future, the effective use of women in services is the need of the hour and will lead to better acceptance for them."
Mor said they had found that often policewomen were better educated than their male counterparts, making them an ideal choice for investigation work.
"We conducted a study and found that women constables are ahead in terms of education compared to their male counterparts," said Mor. "As investigation is related to the utilisation of the mental faculties, if the person who is conducting an investigation is educated and well trained, he or she can conduct the investigation successfully."u00a0
