Mangaluru: The Police Department will propose to the State government to revise the pattern of posting police personnel to stations in rural, urban and metropolitan areas, said Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Kamal Pant here recently.

The pattern means how many personnel should be posted to stations in those respective areas. Talking to reporters, Mr. Pant said the staffing pattern in police stations is based on norms prescribed by the National Police Commission.

“These norms laid down two decades ago need to be changed,” Mr. Pant said.

Suggestion for comprehensive revision of staffing pattern was made during the recent annual conference of police officers in Bengaluru.

A demand was made to have exceptions in posting for some sensitive police stations under Mangaluru City Police Commissionerate and Dakshina Kannada.

Such sensitive police stations required more police inspectors. “We need to have more inspectors in some police stations in Mangaluru, Puttur, Sullia and Bantwal,” he said and added that the staffing pattern in Mangaluru should be like that of in Bengaluru. “In principle, we have agreed. A comprehensive staffing pattern will be proposed shortly,” he said.

Though the police are among the officers empowered to book cases under the Mines and Mineral (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957) against those indulging in illegal sand extraction, Mr. Pant said there was little role for the police to play under the Act.