The city police have their ear to the ground. Mind it.
In a move aimed at improving surveillance of every day law-and-order situations, the city police have introduced live webcasting.
Senior officers can now watch and hear footage recorded by mobile police units on the ground, from the convenience of their offices.
The live webcasting system, streamed via wifi using 3G, began trial run in August and was deployed in places of congregation, processions, agitations, and during VIP visits to the city.
Six special police units armed with HD video cameras attached to a live unit have been going around the city, capturing images and streaming live content to desktop computers at the offices of the commissioner of police, additional commissioners and joint commissioners in the four city zones.
Six cameras and modems compatible with 3G and server space were procured by the city police following approval from the State government.
At any given time, officers can log on to a specific website and watch six screens streaming live footage with sound. If any situation demands attention, a police unit can be sent to the spot immediately.
“Introduction of new technology for law-and-order maintenance in the city is essential as the city sees numerous agitations, processions and such incidents on a daily basis. In a large city like ours, live webcasting acts as a hi-tech supervisory tool to keep track of various developments and helps senior officers to better guide the policemen in the field,” said commissioner, S. George.
The webcasting technology came in handy especially during Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations when thousands took out idols in procession for immersion.
It was also used to monitor the on-ground situation during recent protests by visually-challenged persons, violence involving college students, visits of the President and other political leaders.
“In the case of protests, live streaming helps us deploy additional forces and simultaneously give directions to personnel on handing vehicular traffic,” said a senior officer.
The traffic police department too is expected to receive four cameras and related equipment to put in place the hi-tech ground supervising mechanism.
