In Kochi, police on duty as per the moon

KOCHI: What does a full moon have to do with policing in the city? A lot, it seems. At a time when robbers have gone hi-tech, the police still follows an age-old practice and deploys personnel for night patrol according to the full moon.
Days up to a full moon and days after are given importance by the police department as nights are dark and there is a high possibility of house robberies on these days. This, even as there have been only 181 cases of house break-ins at night over the last three years belying their full moon fixation.
City deputy commissioner of police (DCP) T Gopalakrishna Pillai said that though the concept has no major relevance in the present scenario, the department still follows the system because of convention. "During earlier times, robbers used to operate on darker nights. So, police used to put full moon dates on the station chart to identify darker days and deploy additional police force for night patrolling. We feel that robbers still avoid committing burglaries on full moon days because of the moonlight," he added. An inspector at a police station in the city however said that the system is totally irrelevant in the current scenario. "Whether it is full moon or new moon, robbers hardly bother while committing crime in the city," the inspector said.