01/08/09, 02:00:17 UTC

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City policemen to double up as tourist guides

expressindia.com

Mumbai: Mumbai policemen will soon double up as friendly guides for tourists—helping visitors with history and details of various monuments and tourist spots in the city.

The Mumbai Police have tied up with the Kyoni Travel Group—said to be the second largest travel agency in the world—to train its personnel as tourist guides and also improve their communication skills. Also, the policemen will be required to brush up their knowledge about the city, its monuments and the history of Mumbai Police. As part of an overhaul plan, the Tourism Police will also acquire more patrol vehicles to be just a call away for those visiting Mumbai.

“We have decided to send men from the Tourism Police for training to Kyoni, which is the second largest organisation in the field. The Tourism Police is a great initiative and we feel a lot can be done to improve its functioning. This training will equip our men with the skills of a tourist guide, besides improving their communication abilities. In any case, we pick men with linguistic aptitude for this branch. The details of the training are being worked out,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) Hemant Karkare told Newsline.

It will now also be mandatory for Tourism Police personnel to have knowledge of the history of the Mumbai Police and monuments in the city. “Besides maintaining law and order, these policemen will be required to come across as a friendly and knowledgeable guides to tourists. They should be in a position to answer questions relating to the Mumbai Police’s history. For example, there are some memorials of our officers and constables in the city. The Tourism Police personnel should be well-informed about these spots,” said Karkare.

Besides focusing on an image makeover, the resources at the disposal of the Tourism Police will also be increased. “As of now, each of seven units of the tourist branch has a Maruti Gypsy. We are adding two more Gypsy’s to the fleet. The number of calls received every day and the work done by the Tourism Police will be reviewed and, if found necessary, the number of men posted in the branch will be increased accordingly,” Karkare added.

 Printable Version  | published Aug 15, 2007