New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the police forces across the country to embrace the ‘SMART policing mantra’. He asked them to be more “strategic, meticulous, adaptable, reliable and transparent”, while expanding the SMART acronym.
The PM called for using technology to lighten the workload of police officers and proposed making police stations the focal point for resource allocation. He also expressed grave concern about the increasing threats of digital fraud, cybercrimes, and the potential of deepfakes to harm relationships. He urged the police leadership to turn the AI challenge into an opportunity by using India’s dual AI power of Artificial Intelligence and ‘Aspirational India’.
PM Modi was addressing the concluding session of the 59th All-India Conference of Director Generals of Police/Inspector Generals of Police (DGPs/IGPs) at Bhubaneswar.
Appreciation for urban policing
PM Modi pointed out that wide-ranging discussions were held on national and international dimensions of security challenges and showed his satisfaction on the counter strategies that had emerged during the conference. He also lauded the initiatives taken in urban policing and suggested that each of the initiatives be collated and implemented entirely in 100 cities across the country.
Talking about the success of hackathons in solving key problems, PM Modi suggested considering holding a National Police Hackathon. He underlined the need for putting focus on enhancing port security and preparing a future action plan for this. The Prime Minister also exhorted the police forces to modernise and realign themselves with the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’.
What was discussed during the 3-day conference
The three-day conference drew to a close on Sunday. During the conference, in-depth discussions were held on current and emerging national security challenges, including counter-terrorism, Left-wing extremism, coastal security, cybercrime, drug trafficking, economic security, and immigration. Discussions were also carried out on emerging security concerns along the border with Bangladesh and Myanmar, urban policing trends and strategies for combating malicious narratives.
A review was conducted on the implementation of newly enacted major criminal laws, initiatives and best practices in policing, and the security situation in the neighbourhood. PM Modi offered valuable insights during the proceedings and outlined a roadmap for the future.
