The idea behind the 63rd State Police Duty Meet being held after a gap of six years and for the first time after State bifurcation appears to be ensuring the upgrade of technology and making the department surge ahead in the areas it is lagging behind.
The meet was off to a colourful start at the AR Parade Grounds here on Monday, with the participation of 50 IPS officers and 1,500 police personnel from across the State.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in the presence of Home Minister M. Sucharitha, Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayanaswamy, inaugurated the event virtually.
He spoke on the transforming crime scenario and the need for the department to stay ahead of the times.
With safety and security becoming fundamental and essential requirements, Director General of Police D. Gautam Sawang said the department would leave no stone unturned to emerge sharper.
The meet seeks to ignite the ‘light of knowledge’, as its title ‘IGNITE 2020’ suggests and the issues related to use of technology and its upgrade is in the itinerary of the four-day event.
With waylaying and house burglaries giving way to cyberspoofing and online frauds, demanding a paradigm shift in the nature of policing, the officials rightly identified the need to fill the technology gap.
The Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed with three premier national research institutes bears the testimony to the seriousness with which the department is getting down to embrace the emerging areas of science and technology.
Mr. Gautam Sawang exchanged copies of the pacts with Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati (IIT-T) Director K.N. Satyanarayana for promotion of research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data for applications in predictive policing, apart from ensuring knowledge sharing in the fields of cybercrime, cybersecurity and cyberforensics.
Forensic science course
Similarly, the copy of MoU was exchanged with Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER Tirupati) Director K.N. Ganesh with focus on the niche course on forensic science. The institute will collaborate on DNA finger printing, physical instrumentation and chemical analysis.
Similarly, the tie-up made with Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT, Sri City) Director G. Kannabiran involves setting up of a Centre of Excellence with focus on Autonomous Security and Smart Transport Management.
The areas of focus will be AI, machine learning and image processing, wireless communication (with specific reference to vehicle-to-vehicle communicator for VIP security), training on Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR-VR), unarmed vehicles and robotics.
Hand-on training
‘“The department will strive to get back its cherished position. The police need hands-on training as instruments get more sophisticated, while science students need suitable openings in the department. This is how we seeks to achieve a win-win situation through these MoUs,” said Mr. Sawang.
The biggest attraction at the event was the stalls set up by the Octopus and the Greyhounds teams that displayed their warfare methodologies with the state-of-the-art ammunition, modus operandi and technology.
Special sessions were held on tackling online gaming, betting and on the problems faced with social media accounts.
