Books, toys, cartoons on the walls, welcome to a child-friendly police station
Spaces will be created for an activity room for children at Ludhiana’s Shimlapuri police station. It will be painted in pleasing colours with cartoon characters. Toys and books will also be available
Ludhiana
An activity room with toys at a police station? You bet, for that’s exactly what will happen at Shimlapuri , which is soon be made child-friendly for children involved in crimes or witnesses coming in to record statements.
About 40 to 50 cases are reported per year in which children are involved either as victims or witnesses.
Officials at the station say spaces will be created for an activity room for children. To make them feel at ease, it will be painted in pleasing colours with cartoon characters and figures added. Toys and books will also be available.
A child welfare police officer will be present in civvies to interact with children.
The rooms will be fitted with cameras and audio recording systems so statements, instead of being written down, will be recorded.
The building was recently developed and designed to fit in with modern day requirements.
It is the second child friendly police station established in the state after the one at Mandi Gobindgarh.
The Punjab police had sent a proposal to the home department for establishing child friendly police stations in the state in 2018. One police station in every district is to be designated as child friendly.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) - headuarters) Akhil Chaudhary said that the step will be helpful for the police to deal with cases related to children. They will find it easier to open up to police questioning in a congenial atmosphere.
The police will also invite schoolchildren to the police station to help them understand the working of a police station after schools open once the Covid-19 pandemic situation normalises.
