New to Twitter, Mumbai cops find themselves virtually policed

Nearly two weeks since the Mumbai Police launched its presence on the microblogging site, however, officers have realised that numbers by themselves are only part of the story.

The bigger lesson has been that with more followers comes more responsibility, higher expectations and more accountability.

Recently, even as Mumbai Police observed the traffic safety week, photographs of policemen riding without helmets were not only posted on Twitter but also tagged to the Mumbai Police handle, causing an immediate furore. There was also a complaint recently against a DCP’s driver for cutting lanes — he had to pay a fine, following the tweeted complaint. Senior officers are also now telling their drivers to ensure they wear seat-belts while driving.

“Late one night last week, we were waiting at Marine Drive signal as vehicles whizzed past a red light. Earlier, we too would have jumped a red light if it’s so late at night, but now I’d rather wait than have people take a photograph and post it on Twitter,” one officer said.

He admitted that while citizens have become more vigilant about police probity, the force itself is a bit overwhelmed with the direct scrutiny. “But this is what transparency is all about. Maybe our men will realize that we have to first set our house in order. In the long run, it will do us more good,” the officer said.

The police are finding some benefits as well. For one, they are now communicating directly with people about facilities already available at police stations, said Sunchika Pandey, a former journalist who is now helping the Mumbai Police operate and maintain its Twitter handle. For example, many people simply wanted to know the status of the FIR they registered at the police station. “We had to inform them that there is already a facility in place — every Saturday morning they can visit the local police station where senior officers are present to apprise them of their case status. The facility was there but they did not know about it,” Sunchika said.

Meanwhile, close on the heels of Mumbai Police and the Commissioner’s Twitter handles, several top rung IPS officers also joined Twitter, inspector-level officers following suit. Some of them are slightly confused. One inspector, among the many who suddenly created Twitter avatars of themselves, called a journalist over the weekend for a quick Twitter tutorial. “Don’t want to do something to impress the seniors and end up getting transferred,” he said.