VIJAYAWADA: If pickpockets think they can have a field day by mingling in the crowd at the Krishna Pushkarams beginning later this month, they had better think again. The Andhra Pradesh police are going to use information technology to spot any trouble maker.
The police have decided to deploy a new software called Enterprise Search, developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), that can scan individuals in the crowd and match it with a database of crime. Integrated with live video technology like CCTV cameras, it can detect criminals mingling in crowd and take them into custody before they can commit a crime.
The software, being deployed for the first time in India as a crime control device, is based on big data analytics taking in past court cases, passport status, criminal record, and other such information available to the police of 13 districts.
The Enterprise Search software will provide an e-Cop functionality on laptops carried by policemen. The data available with this software can provide a 360-degree profile of any criminal or any individual in the state. It will enable the force to scan the crowd for absconding criminals too.
"We are planning to integrate this software with a data bank of around 28,000 criminals available with us," said a top police officer in Vijayawada. He said live footage from the CCTV cameras will be connected to the data bank and the Enterprise Search software will identify any criminals in the crowd. Special teams are being constituted to be ready to swing into action once a criminal is spotted.
Development of the software was started in 2012 by knowledge domain personnel of the police and TCS was enlisted to take the process forward. At present, police are utilising a pilot version of the software. In the past one year, conviction rates have increased by 10 per cent due to the new software.
A total of 7,500 tablets have been issued to 900 police stations in Andhra Pradesh, each loaded with the new software. As per the cadre and rank, different protocols have been programmed in the software, leaving no room for misuse of data. The Union Home Ministry is planning to implement Enterprise Search in all states of India.