No! “Netizen Police†is not the name of a new wing of the Kerala Police. But it is a group that is as effective as our policemen in preventing crimes on the cyberspace. A brainchild of J. Jayanath, SP, Internal Security, the Netizen Police (Netpols) community on Facebook, is now a happening place on the Internet. The group shot to fame when its members successfully sent out alerts about someone trying to capture and map the streets of Kochi using a camera mounted on a vehicle.
The community was formed on July 28. In three days, the number of members rose to 10,000. Currently, the community has 15,565 members.
According to SP Jayanath, “When we asked the public to provide us with information, there was an immediate response from across the world—so much so that we had to bring in a gate-keeping mechanism to filter out irrelevant posting. At the same time, we also get very sensitive intelligence, which we are not posting in the public domain, but handing over to the specialized agencies for proper follow-up.â€
One of the threads on the wall of the community is exclusively about fraudulent SMSs. Another is against spreading religious hatred using Facebook.
The aim of the community is to help enhance the security of the citizens—an opportunity that the community members must judiciously and effectively use for maintaining:
a) personal and public security
b) law and order
c) social harmony
d) public trust
At present, the public can send information to the SP, Internal Security, at [email protected] or SMS it to 9497996960. The information will be posted on the wall based on its relevance.
Join Netizen Police Gorup in Facebook:Â http://www.facebook.com/groups/netizenpolice/
via KeralaIT.org
Awareness through the social media is worth trying. everyone is in social media, and they can be interact easily than any conventional communication channels. this is a very effective and innovative way for policing. keep up the good work….
Hope that this initiative brings about a much need awareness among the common man……….All the best!!!!