Hyderabad: Throwing light on the deteriorating standards at the police training academies, VK Singh, Telangana State Police Academy Director has made sensational comments of late. “The police department is still following the customs brought by the British rulers. Rather following basic social service norms, police have now become slaves to influential people,” he stated addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday. In a shocking revelation, he said that the academies including the prestigious ones have become dumping grounds training police to serve their political bosses rather than helping the people. Taking the series of suicides committed by police officers, VK Singh stated that the police are losing lives for the people across the country but are not receiving enough recognition. “There is a need to bring attitudinal change in the officers and this should be brought from the training stage itself,” he said.