This story is from May 14, 2013

Harassed on road? Soon, SMS/tweet to tell cops

The irksome process of registering a police complaint often deters women from approaching cops about street harassment, molestation or stalking.
Harassed on road? Soon, SMS/tweet to tell cops
MUMBAI: The irksome process of registering a police complaint often deters women from approaching cops about street harassment, molestation or stalking. An initiative by the alumni of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, along with Mumbai police, seeks to plug this disconnect.
The India OYE (Open Your Eyes) initiative encourages Mumbaikars to report sexual harassment they suffer or witness with a few clicks.
They can punch in an SMS, tweet, post on Facebook or log on to www.indiaoye.org to report crimes against women. Those with smartphones can download the campaign’s mobile app that facilitates lodging a complaint.
The system will be piloted in Chembur-Deonar, covering 18 police stations within a fortnight, and if it succeeds, it will be upscaled to cover more crimes and map more areas.
“We realized women were scared to report everyday violence at police stations. Even those willing to do so said they would spend half their lives in police stations given how slow procedures work,” says Manwinder Singh (29), founder of IndiaOYE, pointing out that police often reflect patriarchal reactions of society. Women are often deterred from recording crime due to insensitive language or uncomfortable questions posed.
The IndiaOYE platform seeks to abolish such perceptions by creating a more transparent citizen-police interface. On receiving a complaint, it will in real-time map the geographical location of the incident and display it as a red spot on an online map. The complaint is simultaneously activated at the regional police control room, where officials will verify the complaint received via the caller’s mobile number or email id. The persons calling or emailing can keep their identity confidential. “The idea is to create a safety map. A concentration of red spots will indicate the presence of unsafe areas,” explains Singh, adding that police statistics on crimes against women are highly under-reported and their effort is towards reflecting a truer picture of the city’s crime-scape.

Its benefits could go beyond mapping. Additional commissioner of police (East) Qaiser Khalid believes the initiative has great potential. He explains a scenario in which a school junction routinely shows up in the real-time map for harassment. “Technology will help us better deploy personnel at such junctions,” he says. The control room, under his surveillance, will monitor if the complainant is satisfied with the police action.
Experts believe the platform could help fight burking and crime more effectively, if there is political will.
Former police commissioner A N Roy says the initiative will work as the most common refrain among people regarding sexual harassment is that the police don’t record complaints. “Crime-recording is the first step and people reaching their complaints to the police in any form is welcome. Once cases are registered, they are bound to be pursued in terms of investigation and legality, and it will have a positive impact on bringing down crime,” he says.
But Roy warns that better reporting of cases means a swelling of crime statistics. “The moment more crimes are reported, it is projected as though the city has turned more unsafe or policing has gone down. People must understand that what was under the surface has come to light.”
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