However, for the past few months, Dethe has not only been put in charge of the station house at the Shahunagar police station, he has also successfully investigated six cases of motor vehicle crimes, theft and assault.

Dethe was among the first batch of police naiks and head constables trained in various aspects of investigation as part of a six-week intensive programme started by Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) Sadanand Date last year. Now, over a year later, more than 185 constables and police naiks have been trained in investigative skills. Also, following its success in the Central Region, similar programmes have been initiated in the other regions as well.

“The training was started with an objective to improving the job content of subordinate police personnel, to hone and utilise a larger pool of talent and to enable optimum utilisation of manpower and, most importantly, to reduce the burden on senior officers,” Date said and added that the next step was to ensure that at least one police station in every zone should have these trained head constables posted at the station house.

“Initially we were apprehensive about three things — whether the constables would perceive it as ‘extra work’, whether the officer cadre would believe in the ability of the trained constable and whether complainants would protest against a constable investigating their cases. However, the positive feedback has reflected in the increasing numbers of constables keen to get trained,” Date said.

For six weeks, the participants of the training programme are taught about crime and detection in a classroom setting, following which they return to their respective police stations and put their newly gained knowledge into practice. There is also a written exam to assess their understanding. Once back at the police station, the trained personnel are first assigned to minor cases.

“For six weeks, we were given classroom lectures on nuances of investigation and for the first time in our service someone guided us on how to record statements of the accused, draft FIRs, panchnamas, remand reports and chargesheets, how to produce the accused in court and seek their police custody as an investigating officer, among other things. Now, our new skills have earned us a newfound respect in the police station and we can work on cases without asking officers,” said 45 year-old head constable Rajendra Bagel of Nagpada police station. His big moment: Investigating a robbery committed by a domestic help, and drafting the panchnama in a case where a body was recovered.