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New Delhi: President Draupadi Murmu on Monday said effective policing is as important as economic stimulus to promote development, as law and order is an essential pre-condition to attract investment in any state or region.
Addressing Indian Police Service probationers 77 RR (2024 batch) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Murmu said that a future-ready police force led by young officers will play a major role in building a developed India.
The President also emphasized that technology has significantly changed the field of policing.
He said, “About ten years ago, it was impossible to understand the term ‘digital arrest’. Today, it is one of the most dangerous threats to citizens. India has one of the largest and fastest growing AI user bases. It is also going to impact policing.”
Murmu said that IPS officers should be several steps ahead in adopting new technologies, including AI, compared to those who would use these technologies with ill intentions.
He said, “It is heartening to note that in this batch of 174 probationers, 62 are women officer trainees. With almost 36 per cent, i.e. more than one third, your batch has the highest gender representation so far. I am sure the representation of women IPS officers will be even larger.”
The President said that young officers holding positions of power and authority should keep in mind that with authority comes accountability.
He said that their actions and conduct will always be under public scrutiny, so they must remember to choose between what is ethical and what is not expedient.
He emphasized that moral authority would earn him the respect and confidence of all.
The President said that a police officer deals with crime and criminals almost all the time. This can have a desensitizing effect on them and blunt their humanity.
He urged the officers that in order to become effective officers, they should make special efforts to keep their compassionate origins intact.
Emphasizing the need for cultural decolonization in policing, he said, “The culture of Indian policing would mean maintaining a spirit of service, sensitivity and empathy, especially for the weaker sections of the society. People, especially the marginalized, should see the police as a source of support and not as an intimidating entity.”
–IANS