In addition to modern weaponry and vehicles, the city police can also get a helicopter in future to reach to the sites of emergencies quickly, Home Minister Jayant Patil said on Monday.
In addition to modern weaponry and vehicles, the city police can also get a helicopter in future to reach to the sites of emergencies quickly, Home Minister Jayant Patil said on Monday.
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"At present, the traffic situation in the city is bad and it takes a long time for police authorities to travel from south Mumbai to northern parts which is undesirable in case of an emergency. I believe that we need a helicopter for such situations," Patil said at a function in south Mumbai.
The helicopter could be used to ferry officials quickly to the sites of emergencies and can also be used to monitor traffic, Patil said, adding that the state government would take steps towards acquiring it.
The Home Minister denied that there had been any specific intelligence inputs received regarding aerial attacks by terrorists in the city, but said a helicopter would help the police maintain security of the city.
The state government is also considering to send teams from the city police, consisting of senior police officials, to countries like Israel, England and China to study policing techniques and controlling terror, Patil said.
"The teams consisting of senior officials should be sent there to study how they handle law enforcement and tackle terrorism," he said.
Inspired by the sight of horse-mounted police when he had gone to witness a cricket match in South Africa, Patil said he had also suggested to the city police commissioner that such a squad could be created in the police force.
"I have suggested to the police commissioner we could have about 35 horse-mounted police in the city to control crowds in places like Azad Maidan and other locations where large groups of people assemble," the Home Minister said.
Given the grace and effectiveness of such police squads in controlling crowds, a mounted police squad should be considered, he said.
The city police would also work towards getting 100 dogs to be trained and inducted into its bomb disposal dog squads in the near future, Patil said.
The state government was also working towards providing housing for all police officials in the city and plots allocated for police housing would be given a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4 instead of the earlier 2.5 FSI.
"Within the next three years we should be able to provide houses in excess of those required for city police officials," he said, adding that the state government hoped to build at least 50,000 houses for the approximately 43,000 strong force.
The government will also aim to provide housing colonies for police with facilities like gymnasiums to enable officials to remain healthy, Patil said.
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