Odisha Police issues SOP for dealing with visitors at police station

The guidelines, issued by Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay, emphasised on the need to shift the reception desks at the police stations from the main building to some isolated place on the campus and strengthen phone-based grievance system in order to curtail the number of visitors in view of the pandemic. With many police personnel in several districts, mainly in Ganjam, getting infected with coronavirus, the SOP has been circulated to the heads of all police establishments across the state asking them to take precautionary steps to keep the virus at bay.

Odisha police has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) listing safeguards to be adopted at police stations while dealing with visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines, issued by Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay, emphasised on the need to shift the reception desks at the police stations from the main building to some isolated place on the campus and strengthen phone-based grievance system in order to curtail the number of visitors in view of the pandemic.

With many police personnel in several districts, mainly in Ganjam, getting infected with coronavirus, the SOP has been circulated to the heads of all police establishments across the state asking them to take precautionary steps to keep the virus at bay. Describing police stations and outposts as fundamental to the functioning of the district, the DGP said citizens visit the police stations for normal and emergency cases and adequate precautions should be taken in view of the virus outbreak.

As per the SOP, the reception desk area should be shifted from the main police station building to an isolated place on the campus where the complainants can be allowed to visit. In case the police station does not have any other structure away from the main building, they should build a makeshift tent away from the main building for the functioning of a temporary reception desk, it said.

While a transparent glass or plastic screen should be erected between visitors and reception personnel, a two-way intercom or some other alternative communication system should be provided to the temporary reception desk from the main building. The reception area should be properly and regularly disinfected, while hand sanitizers should be provided to visitors, who are required to wear masks. Those manning the reception desks should clean and sanitize themselves immediately after the end of their shifts, it said.

Emphasising on maximum use of telephone-based grievance redressal mechanism in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the police chief has asked the district police offices or the SP offices and police range offices to popularise their telephone numbers among complainants and discourage people to visit their offices to avoid possible infection by the virus. Complaint boxes have been installed outside SP offices, police range offices and police stations to receive complaints from people. People can drop their letters or applications in these boxes, while important phone numbers should be prominently displayed at the main gates and other platforms.

SPs have also been asked to take steps to redress grievances of people on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter..