Beat policemen across the Capital will soon be able to do their actual job – which is securing neighbourhoods through effective and visible patrolling – more effectively instead of sitting behind a desk and filing voluminous paperwork on a daily basis.
The Delhi Police are working on a web-based application that will enable beat personnel to file daily reports on the go and allow their supervisors at the click of a button and at the same time. It is in consonance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on SMART policing which he mentioned at the DGP’s conference in Guwahati late last year.
Tentatively named Beatbook, the app aims to replace the colonial beat register which, according to the British system of policing which later evolved into the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC), requires beat policemen to record daily activities in a point-wise manner.
In effect, the beat register of a particular police station, pre-independence, became a record of major events to have occurred in a particular neighbourhood pre-independence thus acting as a ready source of reference for gathering information related to what were then defined as activities aimed at subverting India’s allegiance to “Queen and Country” and the formulation of strategies against Indian freedom fighters.
“Not only will the life of the beat constable, who is the backbone of ground policing and the first point of contact with the general public, become relatively easier but the GPS-enabled app will also ensure that senior police functionaries such as the Station House Officer , Assistant Commissioner of Police of the sub-division, and several others can track a beat policeman’s movements,” said a police officer.
GPS-enabled tracking, another official said, would also help senior police functionaries map the areas falling in their respective jurisdiction in real time and push for better deployment in crime-prone areas.
To run Beatbook, however, a beat constable would require a smartphone enabling him or her to be connected to a centralised server where activity and local crime logs can be updated through adequate mobile connectivity.
The financial resources needed to ensure the functionality of the app across thousands of beats falling within the purview of the 161 territorial police stations in the Capital is expected to be a major point of contention over the coming days, the officer said.
“We are working on developing the software for the app, at the moment; it should be ready by May allowing us to work other connected modalities and prepare to launch the app by June,” the officer added.
