Mangaluru: At a meeting of Dalit grievances held in his office complex on Tuesday, district superintendent of police Dr Sharanappa S D said that the police in DK was understaffed. To meet this deficit, a proposal for posting 323 policemen of different ranks had been submitted to the higher-ups, he said.
Problems faced by the department in the event of law and order situations had been explained to the government, he further said, while expressing the hope that the proposal would be favourably considered. After the approval was obtained, the recruitment process and training would entail more time, even to the extent of four years, he opined.
According to norms, 250 policemen are required for every lakh of population, but currently there are only 577 for a population of 10 lakh. To make things worse, 77 posts are lying vacant. The existing staff works under pressure, even up to 16 hours a day. In view of this public cooperation was an absolute necessity, he further said.
He also said that e-beat system was functioning in the jurisdiction of nine police stations in the district. This helped in controlling crime to a considerable extent, he said.