He is a man with a perfect mind. The City Police Commissioner of Kozhikode Mr P Vijayan IPS believes, the police force, with positive attitude and purposeful endowers can transform the society and make it productive in every sense.  The Commissioner has, with his innovative initiatives like Student Police Cadet and Our Responsibility to Children, practically proved how his force can contribute to man making.  According to a local constable the Commissioner “has all the six qualities expected in an ideal police man. He is a true gentleman but well determined. “   Many  vouch for his exceptional caliber as a performing police chief.  Not just his subordinates, but even a petty shopkeeper near the corporation stadium extol the commissioner for his concern to the common man. The Commissioner appears convincingly committed towards structuring a young generation packed with positive energy. He envisages a compact campus with faultless facilities to train and transform selected students as soldiers of this unique mission- a crime free society.

Mr. Vijayan, in a candid conversation with our Chief Editor Suresh Unnithan , explains his efforts to curb crime through distinctive projects aimed at enlightening the society .

Your efforts to bring police and people closer have been well acclaimed. How far it has been helpful in curbing crimes?

The police is essentially assigned to prevent and detect crime, maintain law and order.  And we are performing this duty with impeccable excellence.  While we discuss of crime and criminal activities we seldom think the cause or origin of the crime.  We need abort any such attempt even before its birth.  There is saying, prevention is better than cure.  So it will be wise to prevent the crime at its origin itself.  In fact, the thoughts of criminal acts are germinated in the mind of the culprit much before the real action. So better we insulate individuals from such destructive thoughts. Our project is aimed at preventing this cancer.  This is indeed a massive mission with endless efforts. But we are on the job.

How do you plan to accomplish your mission?

Let me explain you.  To train your thoughts proper one has to be disciplined both mentally and physically.  A disciplined individual is always law abiding. Individuals constitute the society and in a law abiding society crime becomes an alien term.  Discipline should not be imposed but inculcated.  This cannot happen overnight.  Law is meant to safeguard the society. Breaking of law leads to lawlessness. To know the essence of law one should well understand its philosophy.  Unfortunately we are given only lessons on the sections of various laws and not the underlying philosophy.   Here we propose to drive home the essential message.  Be a law abiding citizen.  Make your life comfortable along with others.

In a complex society with mundane priorities what could be the kind of response from the public?

We don’t dream of any instant outcome.   Our efforts are centered on the youths in general and the teens in particular. It is always easy to mould the young. Young minds always receptive in nature.  If we infuse the right kind of thoughts we can mold them the way we want.   Show the right way they will prove  asset to the nation. They will bring all fortunes.

Let me repeat.  It is easy to train a young mind either way.  Take the cases of those misguided youths who killing innocents in the name of terrorism.  It is easy to fill in venomous ideologies and convert a young mind to a destructive fanatic.  You can see that most of those involved in the terrorist activities are young and many of them are just in their teens.  The nation is spending its valuable resources to quell the rebels.  If these youngsters use their energy for nation building, imagine what could be the net result.

So to protect the juvenile blood from falling prey to the antisocial and antinational forces we need to inculcate in them the consistent qualities of nationalism, patriotism, humanity, tolerance.  That is what we are doing through this Student Police Cadet Project.  We are reaching the young blood through this unique endeavor and our experience hitherto has been encouraging.

Could you please explain the Project?

Student Police Cadet (SPC) is a voluntary student organization.  It has been a set goal, molding up of a vigilant, peaceful and development oriented society by inculcating sense of responsibility, social commitment and the readiness for selfless service in young minds.

The prime objectives are :

1. Moulding a society which is law abiding
2. Inculcating the values of civic sense, a sense of equality, a secular outlook, and the spirit of enquiry, the power of observation, leadership qualities and the love of adventure among students.
3. Fostering students in social commitment, the readiness of service and love of fellow members of society.
4. Equipping students to react against social evils like terrorism, separatism,         communalism and drug addiction.
5. Enabling students to work along with the police in ensuring internal security eradicating crimes, maintaining law and order, traffic control and social service.
6. Bring up SPC an independent action force like any other voluntary organization such as NCC, NSS etc.
7. Promoting among students love of nature and awareness regarding the protection of environment and the readiness to be active in managing disasters.
8. Promoting among students the readiness to be helpful and active in times of       calamity and in solving social problems.
9. Moulding a model student community that upholds high values in character and conduct.

10. Shaping a young community which strives selflessly for the all-round progress of the society as a whole.

Are there any visible achievements for SPC?

Yes.  In model VHSS, Ambalapulzha SPC assisted in the investigation of suicide cases of students to discover valuable evidences.

During school Kalamahothsavam held in Kozhikode City a few months back the SPCs consisting of 760 cadets from 14 schools controlled the crowd consisting of over 3 lakh for 7 days.

The programme is also proving to be helping the students in their studies. For example, the VHSS Iringol which is active in the programme has registered an unprecedented success in academic results.   The percentage of pass shot up from 67% to 99% after implementation of SPC program.

Our student’s cadets are now providing valuable leads to the Police on ragging, use of narcotics, complaint of eve teasing and any such antisocial activity they happen to notice. These show, our efforts have started yielding and we are now confident of our dream of a crime free society is not that far.

Is there any special training for these cadents?

We do have a training programme specially designed for SPC.  Proper physical training is given to the cadets.  A weekly 90 minutes training session is conducted at specific locations under the guidance of proper trainers. The training has two parts, physical training and parade. Opportunity for games is also provided according to convenience. Once in a month preferably on second Saturday or a Holiday, route march / Cross Country is organized.

As part of the training classes on police related topics, legal matters, constitutional principles, community policing, national movements and development related subject are conducted. At least 40 hours are dedicated for study classes.

Then the practical training. As part of this programme the cadet would visit the institution that create, implement and execute law and also the places of historical, cultural, technological and national importance.  The cadet has to submit observation and findings to the assigned.

The cadet also needs to arrange classes to fellow students on the matter of avoidance of law-insults.  We also want the cadet to involve in voluntary medical services, take part as volunteers in school Kalolsavam and other educational festivals. They are also trained to take the responsibility in maintaining law and order with the Police.

Man making is our mission. Crime-free society our ambition and we will achieve this trought our SPCs.