Kanpur police open Facebook account

KANPUR - In an attempt to make themselves easily accessible to the public, police in this Uttar Pradesh district have opened an account on popular social networking site Facebook.

“The main objective behind opening the account is to generate a direct medium of communication with the public. The exercise is aimed at facilitating better communication between police and the public,” Kanpur range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) M. Ashok Jain told reporters in city, some 80 km from Lucknow.

“With the help of the account we will also be able to know about the public feedback, which in turn will immensely help us improve our functioning,” said Jain, who has opened the Facebook account on behalf of the Kanpur police.

Senior police officials say sketches and photographs of wanted criminals would also be posted in the Kanpur Police Facebook page.

“The objective behind it is simple. Once the photos are posted, people will get to know about the wanted criminals and would approach us if they see them. It will help us nabbing the criminals also,” a senior police official said.

Jain has issued special instructions for reviewing the Facebook account on a daily basis.

“Whenever I get time, I visit the Facebook account that has been created around a week ago. However, I have instructed the officials to ensure the Facebook page is visited at least four-five times daily,” said Jain.