Cops hope to bridge communication gap with public through new magazine

The cover page of the first issue has a picture of a prayer session by a minority community guarded by the police. The stories includ a first person account by Additional Commissioner (central region) Sadanand Date on his counter attack at the Cama Hospital during the 26/11 terror attacks and other articles including initiatives of the city police.

Stressing that since it’s the first of its kind where for any police force to associate with a communication medium,Sivanandan said the magazine will be sent to prominent IPS officials across the country to get a studied response and shape the magazine adequately.

Sivanandhan said the next issue will have articles highlighting the terror preparedness of the Mumbai Police. “We are not legally responsible for the magazine,but we associated with it as the idea is good. We look at it as a window to reach out to the public and a forum where everyone can contribute to ensure that law enforcers act better,” he said. “The book will also shape dialogues through important discussions— like terror laws in Spain or the US. We can have a complete section on the Shopian rape and murder case. As a suggestion,we can always highlight the 26/11 investigation like many investigations,once the trial is over,” Sivanandan said.

Meanwhile,the city police chief added that the new website for senior citizen has seen around 1,200 elderly people registering themselves in the last five days. “There is too much paranoia in the city and initiatives like the website and the magazines should be looked as our way to reach out,” he said.

THE BLOOPERS

* The magazine’s section on 26/11 details former police commissioner Hasan Gafoor’s press conference where he talked about the names of 16 accused sent to Pakistan. Though the statement was later retracted by the Mumbai Police,the magazine editorial failed to update the story. “We all know that it was in the past. The trial is on and we all know what the truth is. We must leave it at that,” Iyengar said.

* The magazine has even made public the numbers of Intelligence Bureau control room,while even the MTNL phone directory deliberately skips them. Moreover,the State Intelligence Department is mentioned as Subsidiary Intelligence Department.