If you see cops breaking the law, post a picture online: Pro-police group calls for clean-up

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" asked Roman poet Juvenal. That's Latin for 'Who will watch the watchmen?'

Ever seen a police car moving towards you on the wrong side of the road? Or a policeman riding a motorcycle without his helmet on? Ever seen a cop do anything that you would have been arrested for? Well, now a police-associated organisation is asking you to post picture to help the cops make examples of themselves.

The call to every citizen of the country came through a tweet by the Indian Police Foundation, a respected think tank with ties to the Central government. The tweet prominently displayed two policemen - of at least Assistant Sub-Inspector rank - riding on a motorcycle without helmets on. But that's not all, both of them can be seen speaking into their mobile phones.

The Indian Police Foundation posted this with a strong hashtag, and a resonant message. "#Brokenwindowswithin: The police fraternity should look in the mirror. These persons trivialise all your good work. Citizens should photograph policepersons breaking law and post them here.  Transformation will happen only when citizens show their disapproval," read the tweet.

#Brokenwindowswithin: The police fraternity should look in the mirror. These persons trivialise all your good work. Citizens should photograph policepersons breaking law and post them here. Transformation will happen only when citizens show their disapproval pic.twitter.com/AwFyDfKFp4 — Indian Police Foundation (@IPF_ORG) April 27, 2018

The tweet was very quickly retweeted by IPS officer D Roopa, who is presently Karnataka's Inspector General of Police for Home Guards and Civil Defence. She was in the limelight last year for her expose of the privileges being allowed to former AIADMK leader VK Sasikala during her incarceration in a Bengaluru jail in a disproportionate assets case.

It now remains to be seen how many people will make a trend out of posting pictures of policemen breaking the law, and what sort of embarrassing goings-on might emerge from the posts.

It may be a slightly vigilante approach, but as the saying goes, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."