Police should reach crime scene in less than 10 minutes: HC

The Delhi High Court today said that the police team should reach the crime scene before the current time of ten minutes so that citizens of the national capital feel they are in safe hands.
The court said that maximum response time should be "like a pizza boy delivering the stuff faster than the guaranteed half an hour".
A bench of justices B D Ahmed and R K Gauba said that the "police will have to earn the faith of the public that they are always there for them in need".
"We are concerned over the response time of the police team in reaching the crime spot," the court said adding that "they should reach quickly in order to give guarantee to citizens of Delhi that they are safe here."

The court said "the response time as given by you (police) is very important. It is to check the efficiency of the police. You will have to ensure that you reach the crime scene before ten minutes."
The bench gave the direction on the submissions made by Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain who, while reading the affidavit file by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), said that to "ensure safety and security of women in the national capital, response time of the Delhi police to distress calls reportedly reduced to 10 minutes".

"The response time of police should be known to everyone so that the citizens here are aware that the police are always there on time at the crime scenes," it added.

It asked the police to file an affidavit with regard to the concern raised by it.
It also expressed concern over the way the police team is detecting the crime, saying in most of the cases the criminals "go scot free due to absence of strong evidence, like proper photos of crime scenes and lack of forensic experts".
The bench said that the police team should comprise "experts, including a forensic pathologist, who determine the cause of death by examining a corpse".
It said the Centre, AIIMS, Delhi government and municipal bodies here should file an affidavit before July 27 indicating whether there is any forensic pathologist working in their hospitals.

The Ministry of Finance, during the hearing, told the
court that they have agreed to creation of 4,227 posts for the proposal of separation of crime investigation and law order functions.
"The matter for creation of posts would be processed as and when the report of the high-level committee is finalized and provided to the Department of Expenditure, the Ministry of Finance.
"Since the committee report is yet to be received, this department has no specific timeline of the proposals and plan of action with regard to improving policing in Delhi," the Ministry said.
To which the court said that the government must take some appropriate steps as the public is taking law in their hand.

"We can only express anguish, you (government) are the executive, you will have to implement the directions given by the court," the bench added.
The court was also told that the number of lines of police helpline no. 100 has been increased from 60 to 100, women helpline no. 1091 has been increased from four to ten and 370 and additional PCR vans sanctioned, which takes the fleet to 1000.
"All civic agencies have initiated action to install CCTV cameras in their jurisdiction," the affidavit filed by the MHA said, adding that "we are taking every step to ensure safety of women, like we have also installed CCTV cameras in many DTC buses, bus queue shelters and schools."

To this the court asked the agencies concerned here to advertise the facilities and help they have made available to the citizens.