Indian airport police have been instructed to smile less as their cheerfulness and "passenger-friendly features" could compromise security and lead to terror attacks, officials announced Tuesday at an international aviation security seminar.
Personnel will now shift from "broad smiles" to "a sufficient smile system as focusing on the core area of ensuring fool proof security is more important," said Central Industrial Security Force additional director general and chief of aviation security, MA Ganapathy, according to the Daily News and Analysis.
His colleague, CISF director general Rajesh Ranjan explained that over-friendliness with passengers was one of the reasons cited for the 9/11 attacks.
He noted that it was "excessive reliance on passenger-friendly features where security personnel went out of the way to ensure that the passenger is facilitated, thereby compromising on security."
According to BBC, Indian police officers have previously been told to alter their behavior or improve their standards.
In July, the Karnataka State Reserve Police threatened to suspend its officers who did not lose weight and in 2004, Madhya Pradesh bosses paid their officers to grow moustaches because they felt it commanded greater respect form the public.
Cops in the U.S. have also faced similar threats and requests.
A Carrollton, Texas, police officer who served the department for 20 years was suspended for being overweight while officials mulled over whether he was healthy enough to continue his duty, The Dallas Morning News noted.
In 2007, a Nebraska officer was also suspended for his weight, which supervisors said kept him from preforming his duties.
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