Cops undergo leadership, communication training

TRICHY: In a unique initiative in Trichy, a two-day management development programme for police officers was kickstarted on Friday. The programme was conceptualised after a general feeling arose that the perceptions of police officers are often one-dimensional and that they lack the attribute of emotional quotient (EQ) when it comes to the public relations.
A total of 35 city-based police officers – including five assistant commissioners, 19 inspectors and 11 sub-inspectors, took part in the programme, organised by St Joseph’s Institute of Management (JIM) in the city.

City police commissioner A Amalraj told TOI that the event was organised mainly to impart leadership and communication skills among the police officers. “We had a feeling that our officers had to improve in terms of developing leadership qualities and public relations. Hence we thought it could be taught to them by experts in the field of management,” he said.

According to the dean (academics) of JIM, A John Peter, the entire programme was designed to impart EQ among the police. “The training for the police predominantly are very rigid and structured and are only about rules and regulations. As a result, their EQ levels are less – but it’s an important attribute which they should inculcate because their work nature is all about communicating with the public,” the dean said.

The training programme constituted of case studies-based talks, group discussions and outdoor activities. In the case studies-based talks, discussions about mass protests in the recent past were discussed and on how the police should try to understand the point-of-view of the agitators too.

Cantonment police station inspector Vijaya Baskar, who was one of the participants, said, police officers generally have a fixed perception and it sometimes results in them lacking empathy. “It’s because we’ve had such a structured training. As a result, when we question someone, we have preconceived notions and do not think from the other point of view. The training taught us about how to see everything from different perspectives,” he said.

Apart from the 35 who took part in the programme, police personnel in batches would be attending the same in the forthcoming weeks.

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