With locked houses turning soft targets for burglars this summer season, the police have called upon vacationers to make use of the ‘Locked House’ option in Pol-App, a digital initiative of the Kerala Police, to request surveillance support. People who submit the online request at least 48 hours before their departure will get two-week-long surveillance of their houses free of cost.
Details of the locations to be put under surveillance can be uploaded to the app even seven days before the scheduled departure. Details such as date of journey, returning date, location of the house, house name, and the names of neighbours and their contact numbers should be furnished in the application. The Pol-App can be downloaded from Google Play Store and App Store.
“The advantage of placing an online request is that the police can have a clear idea about the place in advance. The day-and-night flash patrol duties can be rescheduled in such a way to cover such spots,” said a senior civil police officer from the Kozhikode Town station. He added that the service had been operational for several years, but very few were found using it.
Police officers who coordinate sectoral patrol activities in the city said the surveillance on locked houses would be available for all citizens across the State with preference for those located in the city suburbs or isolated areas. Apart from informing the police, one should also try to avoid circumstances that could easily attract the attention of burglars such as scattered newspapers and constantly lit outdoor lights, they said.
It was the spike in the number of burglaries that prompted the police to highlight the features of the app-based service again. In Kozhikode district, there were many complaints from rural areas such as Mukkom, Karassery, Koodaranhi, Thamarassery, and Mavoor. Houses owned by senior citizens were also found to be the targets of buglars in urban areas.
“One of the suspected men who operated several such burglaries in the rural areas of Kozhikode district was nabbed from Koodaranhi on Thursday. He was identified on the basis of details given by a woman who foiled his chain snatching attempt,” said a civil police officer from the Mukkom station.
