7th June 2012, Mumbai: Mumbai Police has made a genuine effort to be transparent. This PDF File is very informative for citizens and RTI activists: http://www.mumbaipolice.org/
Useful features are highlighted in this file (i.e. same PDF file with highlights):http://tinyurl.com/Mumbai-
SEVEN USEFUL THINGS:
1) THE LIST OF 97 REGISTERS MAINTAINED BY MUMBAI POLICE COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE on page 10-12 is very useful. RTI activists can simply ask for copy of pages of a particular register between two cut-off dates e.g. 1 Jan 2009 to 31 Dec 2011. Or they can ask for inspection of particular registers.
2) PERIOD OF PRESERVATION OF EACH REGISTER on page 13 makes it easy to file RTI applications and reduce chances of arbitrary denial.
3) POWERS & DUTIES of Mumbai Police Officers & Employees are explained from page 4 to 9.
4) ORGANIZATIONAL CHART on page 3 makes the Mumbai police hierarchy clear to laymen.
5) VARIOUS OFFICERS’ PHONE AND FAX numbers are given page 16 onwards.
6) VISITING HOURS for citizens etc. are specified on page 88.
7) PIOS, APIOS & FIRST APPELLATE AUTHORITIES’ phone numbers and addresses are given page 89 onwards.
This MAHARASHTRA POLICE WEBSITE also gives the official “mahapolice.gov.in” email addresses of 174 cops in Maharashtra: http://mahapolice.gov.in/
[Note: I selected the email ids of 10 Mumbai police officers from this list. Four of the addresses bounced my message i.e. my emails were hopefully delivered to six email ids. Hope the cops are checking these email addresses, because many still prefer to use yahoo and gmail for official purposes!]
The Maharashtra Police website also appears to have some other useful features e.g. tracking the progress of a missing person complaint, etc. But do these features actually work? Someone will have to test it and see.
Warmly,
Krish
9821588114
