ROURKELA: Rourkela police on Thursday launched an integrated control room (ICR) for strengthening public safety and rapid response from field units in crime prevention and control across the city.
Operating from Rourkela district police office, the ICR is equipped with modern technology and envisages to monitor real-time activities, identify suspicious movements and provide immediate alerts to field units.
The ICR is presently backed with a network of 220 surveillance cameras installed at strategic locations across the city, including 100 solar-powered cameras, facial recognition system (FRS) cameras and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said over 651 private road facing cameras have been mapped. “Owners of around 400 road facing cameras have volunteered to share their camera feeds to mark a new chapter in community-based policing for collective safety. These private cameras would be integrated with police surveillance network with optical fibres,” he added.
The SP said that the control room will serve as a central hub for data analysis, live monitoring, and coordination among different police units. It consists of CCTV cell, ERSS Cell, Smart e-beat cell, VHF Cell and Traffic Cell.
“The system’s predictive features will help identify potential crime hotspots, tracking vehicles, and responding quickly to law-and-order situations,” the SP said.
Wadhwani said that 200 more surveillance cameras will be added in the upcoming days, adding the ICR would ensure faster information sharing to all police channels for faster response and investigation. Meanwhile, work is in-progress to install around 600 CCTV cameras under the electronic surveillance project of the Rourkela Smart City Ltd and is likely to be functional in a couple of months.
People are being encouraged to join the ‘Pledge Your Camera’ initiative by registering on Rourkela police’s website or giving their consent via 8763146477 to connect their cameras to the police network.