Police Didis In Mumbai Now Spread Awareness About Cyber Crime

There is no stopping real world crime, and now cyber-crime has also added on to the numbers. After some cases of cyber-crime in the commercial capital, Mumbai police department has incorporated cyber awareness in their prominently known ‘Police Didi’ campaign. As a part of the campaign strategy, the police women not only go to schools and colleges across the city, but they also reach out to spread awareness among people in the residential societies and slum areas.

Throughout the campaign duration, women police officers can be spotted talking to school and college girls. They make them aware about what does it mean by 'good touch and bad touch'. They also teach the girls how to react to such untoward situations.

Class nine student threatened online

The campaign to spread awareness started against the backdrop of a cyber-crime incident that came to light with a class nine student in the city. The student had uploaded one selfie of hers on social media. After some time she started getting online threats and harassment from an unknown person. That anonymous person on the Internet morphed the images of that girl and started to use those pictures to threaten her online. However, luckily the man got arrested by the Mumbai police. The girl was a student of a school in Santacruz in Mumbai.

Read also: Internet A Boon For Women; Let’s Ensure Safety

The aim of 'Police Didi' campaign

Introduced in the year 2016, ‘Police Didi’ campaign aims to reduce the number of crimes that happen online. Throughout the campaign duration, women police officers can be spotted talking to school and college girls. They make them aware about what does it mean by 'good touch and bad touch'. They also teach the girls how to react to such untoward situations.

Training of 'Police Didis'

One might wonder as to how these 'Police Didis' are trained. Well, from all the 94 police stations in Mumbai, more than 200 women police personnel are trained by cyber experts, child psychiatrists, and consultants. In turn, these women personnel pass on their training information to other colleagues in the police station. After that, all of them collectively visit to places like slums, schools, chawls, residential societies, and colleges.

“They are not aware of how to react to a situation in cyber space, and they often land in trouble. We aim to make teenagers aware of the hazards of social media”

Parent's role in coping with Cyber crime

Vinoy Kumar Choubey, the joint commissioner of police (Law & Order) said that teenagers get panicked quickly as they are not able to handle these situations. “They are not aware of how to react to a situation in cyber space, and they often land in trouble. We aim to make teenagers aware of the hazards of social media,” he said. He also added that cyber-safety training has become a key topic in the upgraded ‘Police Didi’ initiative.

Cyber-crimes in India

Cyber experts from the Mumbai police team concluded that nearly 54% of the cyber-crime cases in India were related to cyber-stalking. Also, 35% to 38% of the porn that is uploaded on the Internet is related to children and teenagers.

Read also: How Can We Make The Internet A Positive Place

Udisha Srivastav is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv