Former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prof. (Dr.) Vikram Singh on Tuesday, 14 July declared that a positive police image is earned through ethical conduct and genuine public service — not through publicity campaigns — while addressing a one-day workshop on Police Image and Best Practices in Policing at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU)'s School of Internal Security and SMART Policing (SISSP) in Gandhinagar. The workshop brought together senior officers, including Directors General of Police and Inspectors General, from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Meghalaya, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Key Remarks by Former DGP

Singh, a retired IPS officer who now serves as Chancellor of Noida International University, urged police personnel to shed what he called the colonial-era 'feudal' mindset rooted in the Police Act of 1861 and embrace a more humane, trust-based approach to law enforcement.

'A positive police image is built not through publicity, but through consistent, ethical conduct and genuine public service, earning the trust and confidence of citizens through action rather than optics,' Singh said.

He cautioned against performative public relations exercises and unauthorised media engagements, arguing that such shortcuts ultimately erode rather than build institutional credibility.

Women's Safety and Empathetic Policing

Highlighting women's safety as a critical benchmark of policing quality, Singh cited Kolkata Police's 'LISTEN' model and Uttarakhand Police's safe-space reporting mechanism as examples of empathetic, citizen-oriented practice. He observed that police stations had historically functioned like a 'boys' club', discouraging many women from reporting offences.

Quoting jurist Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer's observation that 'while murder destroys the body, rape destroys the soul', Singh called on officers to treat crime victims with the highest respect and apply the law impartially, particularly in domestic disputes.

From Danda to Data: The SMART Policing Push

Prof. (Dr.) Kalpesh H. Wandra, Pro Vice Chancellor at RRU, noted that Indian policing was transitioning from a reactive, post-crime investigation model to a predictive, technology-driven system aligned with the Prime Minister's vision of SMART policing. He pointed out that India has nearly 20,000 police stations and around 2.6 million police personnel serving a population of more than 1.4 billion, yet stressed that force size alone cannot substitute for public trust and citizen participation.

Wandra linked the workshop's 54 lectures — spanning technology adoption, women's safety, and community outreach — to a broader national transition towards transparent, accountable policing in keeping with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat 2047'.

RRU's Institutional Initiatives

Lt. (Dr.) Ruchika Singla, Director In-Charge of SISSP, said RRU was working to build a technology-driven, citizen-centric policing ecosystem through skill development and professional training. She highlighted Mission Karmayogi, women-in-policing programmes, and capacity-building efforts across police ranks as part of this mandate.

She noted that RRU's monthly 'Police Image' lecture series, held on the 22nd of every month, had completed 54 lectures to date, bridging the gap between theory and practice under the university's guiding principle: 'National Security is Supreme'.

State Presentations and Best Practices Shared

The workshop featured technical sessions from officers across multiple states. Inspector General (Training) Anant Takwale of Uttarakhand Police spoke on community-oriented policing, while Deputy Inspector General (Training) Dev Ranjan Verma of Uttar Pradesh discussed the Women Power Line 1090 programme and technology-driven approaches to women's safety.

Additional Commissioner of Police Neha Yadav presented Delhi Police best practices; Administrative Officer Lakador Syiem of the Meghalaya Police Academy outlined policing in Meghalaya; Deputy Superintendent of Police Hardik N. Prajapati shared Gujarat Police practices; Inspector Sujit Bhattacharjee of the Swami Vivekananda State Police Academy addressed public trust in West Bengal; and Company Commander Toniya Sharma of the 4th RAC Battalion covered Rajasthan's policing model.

The convergence of senior officers from across India signals a growing institutional consensus that policing reform must be anchored in conduct, community engagement, and technology — with the next phase of SMART policing initiatives expected to take shape through RRU's ongoing training frameworks.