The new Commissioner of Police for Lagos State Command, Imohimi Edgal, has vowed to reduce crime rate in the state by 30 per cent within two months.

Edgal, a former Deputy Commissioner of Police incharge of Operation who made the vow while addressing journalists at the Police Officers Mess, Ikeja, Lagos, said his roadmap was based on a police plan driven, largely, by community policing and partnership.

He promised go to any length, including dinning with the devil, to protect and guarantee the safety of the people in Lagos.

In his word, ”My strategy will be based on community policing, which will increase the involvement of community members on how they will be policed, saying it is all about partnership, decision-making and accountability, partnership will, however, form the core.

He said community safety partnership was an aspect that emphasised synergy with other security agencies and civil groups.

Edgal said the command had established pin down points across the state as first point of contact for the people, when in distress.

According to him, I have established police observation/pin down points in the state to serve as first point of contact when in distress, saying Patrol vehicles will concentrate on major highways during peak periods and on residential areas at night.

He emphasised that he was ready to work with other security agencies, including registered vigilante groups, saying I will also partner closely with the informal policing sector, like vigilante groups that aid police in ensuring security and peace in the inner communities of the state.

To him, the issue of functional partnership will be taken very serious as legal and operational guidelines for vigilante will be established, saying the vigilante is important but before any group can metamorphose, such group must report to the Divisional Police Headquarters where they will be registered, profiled and scrutinised.

Edgal said a platform, named Citizens Complaints Hot Centre,CCHC, would be activated at six in the evening on Wednesdays to handle complaints from members of the public.

He also said the former Anti-Kidnapping and Cultism Section had been unbundled, adding that a new section would operate independently from the command and headed by policemen with integrity.

Edgal, who noted that there was connection between crimes drugs, vowed to clamp down on drug traffickers by collaborating with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,NDLEA.

He commended journalists in the state for a job well done and urged them for more support, saying no commissioner of police could succeed without media support.

The new police commissioner, however, advised the media against stories capable of causing panic to the public, stressing that exposing the activities of criminals would enhance better security.