‘Police Bro’ project to deal with drug menace in colleges in Coimbatore:
Nearly a year after the launch of ‘Police Akka’ project for the safety of girl students in colleges, the Coimbatore City Police on Friday started ‘Police Bro’ project, an anti-drug initiative engaging male students.
City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan launched the initiative at Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science. in the city. Under the initiative, young sub-inspectors (SI) will be appointed to maintain close rapport with male students, prevent drug peddling inside and outside campuses and assist them to stay away from drugs.
Mr. Balakrishnan said one SI would be assigned for each college and his mobile number will be made available to all the students. “Students may refuse to share information due to trust deficit. The SIs will attend programmes in the given colleges and the gain the trust of students. They should develop intelligence from students,” he said.
According to him, 99 % of students are career-oriented and only a miniscule percent of them get misdirected.
“The aim of the project is not to punish students, but to correct and guide them. Suspending students involved in drug-related activities may not be a right decision, as they may become peddlers. The SIs should be able to give brotherly guidance to them as intended by the name of the project,” said Mr. Balakrishnan. The Commissioner pointed out that drug peddling was happening in new forms. Recently, the Peelamedu police busted a racket that has been sourcing tablets of scheduled drugs through courier from Hubballi.
The SIs should also make use of the anti-drug clubs established in colleges to have regular interaction with students.
He said that the ‘Police Akka’ project, in which policewomen were deputed to colleges to give guidance to female students, has been running successfully since its launch in October last year. The police settled more than 100 complaints received through the policewomen and stopped students from taking extreme steps. Young and well-qualified SIs have been appointed for the ‘Police Bro’ project to match with the age group of students and to fill the generation gap, he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police K. Shanmugam, college principal B.L. Shivakumar, and public relations manager of SNR Sons Charitable Trust S. Prahadeeshwaran spoke.
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