The Newsminute| November 4, 2014| 12.00 ISTGurgaon police announced a new Whatsapp service to facilitate better connectivity with the public. Now a resident of Gurgaon can just text their complaints to the police and will get faster redressal. "This new service will strengthen Gurgaon Police's existing social presence across Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to have a direct and more transparent connect with its residents" Gurgaon Police Commissioner Alok Mittal told IANS. Citizens can now send texts, pictures and videos reporting traffic problems, thefts, corruption and other crimes. This isn’t the first time that the police have taken to Whatsapp to receive reports of crimes and complaints. In a similar initiative Delhi Police also started a Whatsapp service for residents of Delhi to report traffic problems and traffic crimes. In another case, the police of Surajpur in Chhattisgarh started using Whatsapp as a means for better communication between themselves and the public. Due to the slow process of traditional paper communication, inter-departmental communication was inefficient. Now, with Whatsapp, they have their own Whatsapp groups and communication is reportedly more efficient. Pune police also used Whatsapp to create groups with residents in various localities in Pune. The residents then kept vigil in their respective localities and report any crimes directly to the police through the Whatsapp groups. With the police all over the country going hi-tech to catch criminals and wrongdoers, vigilance seems to have increased. But with crime rates going up daily, the effectiveness of these Whatsapp groups remains to be seen. To contact the police on Whatsapp:Gurgaon: +91-8586976050 Delhi: (+91)8750871493.