Burdwan, April 25: Police stations leave ordinary citizens petrified — the admission has come from officers who are trying to teach the force politeness and compassion.

Personnel — from constables to sub-inspectors — are now attending ethics classes in Burdwan. Their counterparts in other districts need not snigger: the training might be extended to the rest of Bengal.

Burdwan University’s sociology, political science and law departments have designed the course that also teaches law and yoga — to keep cool under pressure — and how to treat people with dignity.

In the first batch, 25 officers are undertaking the three-month course.

“Our aim is to make policemen realise that a person coming to the police station should not feel insecure, scared or uncomfortable,” said Harihar Bhattacharjee, the dean of the university’s arts faculty.

District superintendent of police Peeyush Pandey said the classes were planned following a flood of complaints about the police’s rude and indifferent behaviour.

“Our men often misbehave with people and harass them,” said Pandey.

Inspector-general (law and order) Raj Kanojia admitted that the problem was not restricted to Burdwan. He said all district superintendents have been asked to take similar initiatives. “We’ve told them what Burdwan is doing and asked them to take the help of universities and colleges in their areas to draw up similar programmes,” Kanojia added.

Burdwan University vice-chancellor Amit Kumar Mullick expressed hope that it would teach the police to be gentle with people.

For one, policemen would be taught to smile — at the station and on the roads. “Someone coming to lodge a complaint should be greeted with a smile and offered a seat. A glass of water should also be offered to make the person feel at ease,” Bhattacharjee said.

“The personnel will be taught how to talk to people calling up for help — how they should address them and frame the reply.”

A woman coming to the police station should be led to a lady officer. In the absence of a lady officer, she should be respectfully treated.

“We’d like to drive home the point that the police are public servants whose salaries come from people’s pockets,” Bhattacharjee said.

The conventional training for constables does not cover ethics and compassion. “They are taught the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, shooting, physical exercises and ways to tackle law-and-order problems. That is why officers promoted from the rank of constable were primarily picked for the Burdwan course.

Most senior officers said the training programme for police personnel should be overhauled. “Officers often mess up cases and misbehave with people because of their lack of knowledge of law and human rights,” said Arun Gupta, IG (western range).

The Burdwan superintendent said ethics and rights should be part of police training at all levels.

When the police in Burdwan are being told to develop a friendly relationship with people, Jadavpur police station in Calcutta refused to take an accident victim to hospital apparently because the mishap occurred outside its jurisdiction.

The accident occurred less than 50 metres from the police station early this month.