Islamabad Police set up 126 halting points to curb crime

Islamabad Police have set up 126 halting points to control crime, particularly car snatching, street crime and theft incidents, in the city. Some 63 vehicles have been deployed at the halting points to keep vigil over suspicious persons and vehicles. According to a police official, the halting points will work in various timings with change of their locations.
He told this agency that 62 police pickets had also been erected in various areas of the city, which would work round the clock. Twenty-five of them were set up in City Zone, 17 in Saddar area, 14 in Industrial Area and six in rural area.
Exit and entry points of Islamabad will be also cordoned off randomly alongwith other places at different times, he added.
The Interior Ministry, the official said, had directed the Islamabad Police to adopt a pro-active policy for preventing street crime in the city.
Following these directives, patrolling system within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) had been revamped, with deployment of 15 Falcons, 16 pairs of Eagle motorcycles and six commando vehicles, which were working in three shifts for surveillance, he added.
He said station house officers (SHOs) of all police stations had been strictly directed to utilise their mobiles as well as staff from Rescue-15 to curb the street crime.
The official said the Federal Capital had been divided in 44 beats, with deployment of experienced officers to watch the activities of suspects. One Falcon (vehicle) has been deployed for patrolling in each beat, he added.
He said it was also planned to make around 46 community police centres in the city functional. A sub-inspector would be deployed at each centre to receive complaints of the general public and initiate an immediate action on them, he added.
He said a number of surveys had been carried out within the ICT to ascertain the population dwelling in slum areas. The previous convicts were also being checked frequently by the ICT Police through physical checking as well as through informers, he added.
He appealed to the people to cooperate with police by disclosing the names of suspicious persons. After the tragic incident of district courts, he said, a contingency plan was being chalked out, wherein the police officers would be trained to counter terrorism.
The official said the secret information gathering and intelligence system was being improved to prevent and combat crime.