Talk To Cop:

What would you say or ask of the police in your city ? Ask anything. We will take take your question forward in an interview series. List your questions below.Tweet #TalkToCop

Guidelines include:
* ask even if you never imagined yourself engaging with the police. give yourself time to imagine. take a minute or more.
* this is a call for engagement. attack is easy. try to think of something that you as an individual would like to know or understand.
This is part of a larger series connected to engaging police. 
Action Hero Lijya Perayil, has been instrumental in shaping this space within Blank Noise through her internship over the summer.


Questions asked by Action Heroes below #TalkToCop

Shilpa Phadke:
How can we address the problem that many women are actually afraid to approach policemen especially at night?

I would like to ask: What can we do to ensure that when women want to file and FIR for sexual harassment the policeperson on duty registers an FIR rather than fobbing the woman off.

Unlik

Naksha Errapa
Have you been exposed to other cultures? Does the department have programs for interaction with other state police departments or postings in other states?

Soutik Banerjee
How does your family deal with the fact that you are always away at work when there is a festival and never at home? How does it feel to work hard for a force which the media never lends any credit?

Chryselle D'Silve Dias
I want to ask: How does a woman get a policeman to take her complaint seriously when he seems to have judged her already based on what she is wearing?

Sanjana Janardhan
I would like to ask: what goes through your mind when someone comes to report an incident of abuse or violence at your station? What is your first reaction, and who do you think of calling first?

Shuktara Lal

1. Could you explain why, often, when women go to lodge an FIR on an act of sexual harassment and/or assault they have faced, they are told to change their complaint so that the charges appear to be less serious in nature?

2. Why are police stations at times reluctant to lodge FIRs in cases of sexual assault? If a police station advises us to not lodge an FIR in such a case, what would you suggest we do?

Kunal Kiran's Friend:
Have you ever taken an initiative to get a new way of curbing down eve teasing  sexual harassment be practised by the police?

Sunayana Roy

What will make you feel more supported by me, the average tax-paying citizen? In turn, how will you make me feel safer in my own city/town/village?

Unlike

Mandy Van Deven

I want to ask: how do you expect women and LGBTQ folks to believe you're there to ensure their safety when so many police officers engage in unchecked street harassment of women and LGBTQ folks?

Annie Zaidi

I would like to ask: "What do you think I expect from you, as a citizen and a taxpayer who has, effectively, hired you and given you a special status as a man in uniform representing the nation and state?"

Shreya Ila Anasuya

You often participate in many women's rights and LGBTQ rallies. Sometimes you march along to make sure traffic is undisrupted, and most of the time you stay on until the event ends.

Would you like to engage more deeply with these events? Would you like for activists to explain to you what they are doing and why they are marching?

Have you ever arrested an activist for peaceful non-violent protest? Have you used physical or verbal violence against an activist organising such an event? If you have hit or verbally abused an activist, why did you do so?

Inderjit Kaur

i )tu kitni galaan tey kasam naame chukkey hain? khaskar kay aurtaan ni madad karni ? senior citizen ? How many pledges have you taken so far ? What is your pledge for helping women? and for senior citizens ?

ii) teri life vich government kitni facility deni hai? / what facilities does the government give you ?

Bell Bajao

What do you think are the legal rights of a rape survivor?

Jasmeen Patheja 
Why do so many of you speak language of intimidation + indifference during a crisis?

From Kunal Kiran’s friend

Do you think you are able to do your job, in the way it was to be done?

Kunal Kiran:

Have you ever taken an initiative to get a new way of curbing down eve teasing be practised by the police?

Inderjit Kaur

What is the fastest and easiest way you can help someone? “Police station te jaakay, chakkar nahin kataney. dont make us run in circles. kal ao. time nahin hai. pareyshani nahin samajhde”

Mitali Nath

I would like to ask why an FIR is denied to someone who wants to report, in so many parts of the country?

Rishita Nandagiri:

1. As you understand and relate to it, what does 'safety' mean?

2. As police officers you must build a sense of camaraderie, of respect and friendship. Perhaps you are inspired by your colleagues and fellow police officers, perhaps you admire them, maybe they were kind to you and friendly and welcoming, and perhaps you have things in common and understand each other. How do you feel when one these people acts in a way that goes against the IPS code? How do you feel when they are accused of corruption, of negligence, of breaking the law? How do you feel when everyone paints all of you with the same tarnished brush- that you are all corrupt, that you are all looking for ways to make money, that you are all compromised, that you have no ethics? How do you feel when this happens? How do you act, how do you stop it, how do you make it different?

V.S. Elizabeth:

What is a woman supposed to do when she is sexually harassed on the street or in a bus by a total stranger? Where should she go? Should she report it at all?

Jasmeen Patheja

Would you like to be liked?

Rishita Nandagiri:

How do you ensure the safety of *all* people- sex workers, migrant workers, LGBTQI persons? How do you ensure their safety in your police stations? How do you treat them as citizens?

Jasmeen Patheja Why do so many of you speak language of intimidation + indifference during a crisis?

@Bell_Bajao What do you think are the legal rights of a rape survivor?

(Akshay S Dinesh) @asdofindia What will you do if you see a couple kissing in a park?

@RohitPixel Cops pay lacs in #bribery to become one and then recover the same through illegal means using their badge and uniform #talktocop how true?