Quick response team is former top cop’s key to handling attacks

Calling the incident the first-of-its-kind,Ribeiro said,“The policemen was actually facing a combat situation. The main reason for several casualties was the lack of effective coordination. In such cases,the Commissioner of Police should be the one to take charge and coordinate all operations. Moreover,the failure in disseminating intelligence from the Centre about the attacks was also to blame.”

Asked about the outdated weaponry,he said,“It is not the calibre of weapons which matters,but the fitness of the officials,the volume of their firing practice,and their mental preparedness to face such an attack. There is nothing wrong in arming a patrol constable with only a lathi. Even in cities like London,a beat constable is armed with only a baton and only a few teams in strategic locations of the city are armed with modern weapons. When it comes to such attacks,what is important is to have a quick response team to mobilise as soon as possible.”

The former top cop feels,“A force where a junior official circumvents his senior and approaches a minister or politician for a transfer or a plum posting tends to lower the morale of the entire department. It has been seen that officials who were transferred to specialised departments would curry favour to get back to local police stations so as to earn ‘below the table’ money. The need of the hour is a strong leadership at the top and zero political interference in the workings of the force,something on the lines of the working of military forces.”