To check street crime, Delhi police chief starts meeting SHOs

In a recent crime review meeting, Patnaik is also learnt to have taken a stern view of police “failure” in two particular incidents — one from Mandoli Chowk and another from Dwarka, where a gang war-related firing was witnessed in broad daylight.

“Patnaik decided to meet SHOs and called a meeting with police personnel of three districts of the Eastern range on June 30,” an officer said, adding that he similarly met police personnel from three districts in the Northern range on July 7.

Earlier, the top cop would meet police personnel before Republic Day, Independence Day and major festivals. This is the first time he is interacting with SHOs and discussing strategies to curb street crime.

“In his meetings, he emphasised on the need to motivate beat staff, and asked them to get details of registered criminals in their areas. In a meeting with police personnel of Eastern range, some DCPs complained about misconduct of SHOs, alleging that they were not following directions, especially when asked to take action against illegal bootleggers,” the officer said.

The SHOs named by DCPs were transferred after the meeting. In another crime review meeting recently, Patnaik appreciated the DCP (Central) for his handling of the recent communal flare-up in Hauz Qazi, and asked other DCPs to ensure patrolling staff is more visible to the public.