Bengaluru Police to install policewomen mannequins at places visited frequently by women

In a bid to make women feel safer, Bengaluru Police has planned to install mannequins in policewomen uniform at places visited frequently by women. Every day, the mannequins will be replaced by real police so that people do not ignore them, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said. Earlier, the city's traffic police had installed 200 life-size mannequins to curb traffic violations.

The mannequins resembling policewomen are said to be placed in crowded places like shopping malls, movie theatres, and shopping streets. Speaking to a news daily, Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said that similar to the traffic police mannequin, policewomen mannequins will be placed in places that are frequently visited by women in the city to help them feel safe. Usually, women home guards are deployed in public places but every day, mannequins will be replaced by real police so that the people will not ignore them, Rao added further. 

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Traffic Police mannequins introduced in November 2019

Earlier in November, the Bengaluru police had come up with the idea of mannequins as traffic police. City additional commissioner (traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda had then told PTI that he came up with the idea after observing motorists putting on helmets, drivers fastening their seat-belts and stopping use of mobile phones after they spot traffic policemen from a distance. 

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Taking a cue from their behavior, police 'posted' these mannequins at half a dozen junctions here over the last two days, with plans to put 174 of them later if found successful. "If the experiment works, the men in khaki would have mannequins with cameras in the future to track vehicles and collect valid evidence to nail errant drivers or riders. Initially, motorists will be alert on seeing the mannequins, but will regret later that they had been fooled," he said.

"But soon they will become careless, thinking that mere dummies have been installed. Here comes the catch: One or two days later, they will drive casually without caring about traffic rules. It is then that real policemen will take over from the mannequins. And lawbreakers would think twice before violating rules," he added.

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