24 July,2009 11:13 AM IST | | J Dey
There is yet some hope for the Mumbai police, and it lies with Maharashtra's Home Minister Jayant Patil. The soft-spoken minister is clear that the Mumbai police need to be at par with its global counterparts. And he has ideas about how to make thisu00a0 happen international exposure, sharing information on state-of-art armoury and weapon training.
And for Patil, this is not a flash-in-the-pan idea. Expressing his thoughts at a book launch recently, the minister said he always knew international exposure was the answer to better policing.
In fact, two-and-a half-years ago, when he visited Chicago as the finance minister, he jotted down points on ways to strengthen the Maharashtra police force while he was interacting with the top brass of the Chicago police.
He promptly submitted these suggestions, which included methods of more accurate intelligence gathering and detecting crime, to the then Mumbai police commissioner. But unfortunately, the file gathered dust for years.
Speaking with sarcastic humour, Patil recalled that after he took charge of the home portfolio recently, the same file was brought to his table. He has now vowed to address the issue with diligence.
Had those suggestions been taken seriously and implemented, Qasab and his associates would perhaps have not succeeded in wreaking havoc in our city.
In fact, Patil is brimming with positive attitude. He recalled the first Euro Rail trip he took when he was only 25-years old. "I thought there is nothing better in the world. But as the euphoria set in, I knew there was so much more," he said, pointing out that the Mumbai police had a long way to go. But the journey, he promised, had already begun.
Several foreign trips are on the cards for senior policemen in the next few months. Hopefully, they will give the cops many excellent ideas to better their performance.
