Kozhikode: The Facebook page of the Kerala police is ranked first in India now in terms of popularity, thanks to the new social media team that wooed ‘troll-loving’ netizens with a new strategy.
The page, with over 6.41 lakh followers and 6.37 lakh likes, raced past the Bengaluru city police with 6.26 lakh likes. Internationally, only the New York Police Department (NYPD) is above Kerala Police in popularity, said inspector-general of police (IGP), Thiruvananthapuram, Manoj Abraham, who is charge of the cyber police social media wing.
“To be number one globally, we need to cross the mark of 7.80 lakh which, I hope, can be covered in the next 15 days. This is a remarkable achievement. Per day, the page is liked by 20,000 on an average.
We are turning popular every hour now,” Manoj Abraham said. He added that the page was remaining stagnant at 3 lakh in the past three to four years. However, with a new team of 'creative' officers, the likes doubled in the past 50 days.
The social media team responds instantly to messages and comments, alleviating doubts. They also answered questions on law and order and traffic regulations. The social media cell of the police functioned directly under the Police Chief Control Room (PCCR).
Five police officers were on duty 24x7 after they were picked for the job in April, followed by a five-and-half hour test and 10-day training, the IG said. “Training was given to the five officers, after testing their knowledge in policing and web skills. We are aiming at engaging the public more, rather than just circulating messages. The channel is open 24x7 to enable instant interaction with users from other parts of the globe too,” he said.
Kerala police is ahead of other popular police pages like Dubai police, 5.97 lakh likes and Victoria police, 5.95 lakh likes.
