It's been a hectic one month for Bengaluru City Police Commissioner , Praveen Sood, who took charge at a time when the city's image was tarnished following multiple instances of attacks against women, which is something that our new top cop is looking at addressing aggressively. Women's safety is top priority for his department, but he says that he and his force cannot do it alone. In a conversation with Bangalore Times, Commissioner Praveen Sood speaks about his immediate targets and how citizens can be play a role in making Bengaluru better than it already is...I have spent the month in understanding the city, even though this is my third tenure in Bengaluru, first as DCP, then as additional Commissioner and now Commissioner of Police. The city has grown and changed in these years. I have been reviewing the status — where things stand, for which I have been visiting police stations under my jurisdiction. There are 152 and I have visited 65 till date. Most areas have the same problems, but there are area-specific issues that I need to understand. For instance, recently there was lawlessness in an area, where an African student was murdered. There are also pockets that have large population of people from the northeast. I have been studying this scenario, to find police station-specific solutions to their problems, besides general policing. Now that that part is more or less done, we will become more proactive in connecting with citizens.As a policeman, I can take action against isolated incidents that are reported, but people have to understand that it is citizens who fail society first. When most offences occur, there are bystanders and passersby. Right now, we have involved people in traffic management, because that is something that affects everyone. Crime and law order, not everyone is concerned and we don't have much participation in this. Molestation is one aspect. If people don't intervene, how can you expect the policeman to be there. This is not an Indian movie, but yes, the policeman will always reach later because he is not omnipresent. People need to get involved and reach out. But how do we involve people in crime prevention? Not much has been done traditionally. We used to do neighbourhood watches, at which people used to join in to patrol. Times have changed now, but it is still relevant in a different context. At least know your neighbour. 90% of the people are totally unaware of their neighbourhood.Protection or safety for women is a big issue, which needs a multipronged approach. I had announced earlier that we will have more CCTV cameras. We are now going to upgrade our 'Dial 100' facility in a big way. We are going to expand it from 20 to 100, which is a huge step. It means that I need 500 people to man those lines 24/7. But we are going to do it, for which we are going to change our business model in the days to come. Police being involved with things that are not core policing has to be done away with. We can outsource stuff and there are people who can do these jobs better than the police. For instance, a call centre employee can do a more efficient and humane job at receiving calls on 100. So, Dial 100 will be outsourced and citizens will get better response. This, however, will be limited to receiving calls, and not extend to acting on it — dispatching emergency vehicle and acting on that will remain with us.We have set the ball rolling. I have to find ways to connect with the maximum number of people and the media is the best avenue. For instance, for women's safety awareness we are going on billboards. This week, you will see 30 to 40 billboards supported by Bengaluru Police Force targetting our sick mentality. At the recent India-England T20 match in the city, we used the scoreboard to convey our message about sensitivity towards women — True Men Respect Women. We never had a logo and now we do, it says care, compassion and courage. We are doing things, but more needs to be done.

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