Bengaluru Safe City Police Training

Research and evidence have revealed that incidents of violence against women are a common occurrence. In order to ensure that the police are well-informed, the training programme is designed to provide updates on the relevant legislations, legal developments and judgments. Besides, the objective of these sessions is to initiate a behavioural shift towards gender, gender-based violence and gender-based discrimination.

The training sessions for police personnel under the Bengaluru Safe City Police Training Programme are being conducted by National Law School of India University in association with NGO partners based out of Bengaluru. This association helps in imparting training, building awareness and improving understanding of the police personnel in the areas of gender and gender-based violence.

Overview of the Project

The Safe City Police Training consists of the following components:

  1. Police Training Programme: The objective of the programme is to train police personnel in the areas of gender and gender-based violence. The programme consists of six thematic sessions.
  2. Active Bystanders Initiative: The objective of the initiative is to sensitize bystanders to change behavioural patterns from being ‘passive’ to ‘active’; sensitize select members of the general public to intervene to prevent, disrupt or discourage the occurrence of violence and sexual harassment; and help bystanders build skills to recognise violence and harassment, be cognizant of the law and support systems available, and to appropriately intervene.

The training programme and the sessions for the Active Bystanders Initiative are delivered in-person whereby representatives from the NGOs deliver sessions to a pre-identified group of police personnel. The medium of instruction is Kannada. Additionally, under the Active Bystanders Initiative, the mode of delivery is forum theatre and role play and therefore the medium of instruction is Kannada, English and Hindi.

Concept and Purpose of the Project

The training sessions are conducted at police campuses located across different divisions of the city including the offices of the Commissioner of Police, DCP East and DCPCAR North. The topics (session-wise) covered in the training sessions are as follows:

  1. Gender Stereotypes
  2. Gender-based violence
  3. The Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH) and Sexual Harassment in Public Places
  4. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO)
  5. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA)

The training batches are diverse consisting of both men and women holding different ranks including constables, head constables and ASIs, and the participants belong to both Law and Order and Traffic Divisions. The training sessions are participatory in nature with a focus on role-play exercises and group activities. In order to ensure that there is active engagement of participants, group discussions are encouraged, and video clips or short movies are shown in order to solicit their views and address their doubts. Besides, discussing case studies and real-life scenarios (anonymised) with participants results into a broad-based and engaging participation.

As the training programme revolves around the themes of gender and gender-based violence, the scope of discussion creates opportunities for participants to deliberate on gender biases and gender prejudices. The sessions on the important legislations like POCSO, PWDVA and POSH, involve discussion on the key statutory provisions and procedural formalities that are mandatory for the police personnel to comply with. In the culminating session, the participants are particularly informed and taught about the importance of adopting a trauma-informed approach towards victims of gender-based crimes. The NGOs emphasise that police personnel must actively engage with the local communities and establish trust and rapport with them in order to build a gender-sensitive policing culture.

Role of the National Law School of India University

The role of the project team at NLSIU is to co-ordinate with the Bengaluru City Police and NGOs so as to ensure timely and effective delivery of the training programme as well as the Active Bystanders Initiative. Moreover, the team at NLSIU is responsible for organizing the sessions at different locations across the city. The project is being anchored by the Department of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE). By end of the project, the project team aims to produce thematic articles based on the topics covered in the training programme and the Active Bystanders Initiative. Besides, documentation for the programme and the initiative will be recorded.

Team

Ms. Sharon Singh, Project Associate

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