QUEEN'S ROAD: Bengaluru traffic police, in collaboration with city police, will soon install 152 HD surveillance cameras to monitor traffic and to maintain law and order. This initiative is in addition to the existing traffic junction cameras in 175 locations.
“We are set to install 152 cameras in strategic locations. This is to manage traffic and also for law and order,” said MA Saleem, ACP traffic.
Express had reported that city police had proposed to install six CCTV cameras with facial recognition applications as a pilot project in South-East division. This is an extension of the project.
“As the city grows, we need a wider network of cameras for surveillance and to maintain law and order. We are planning to install nearly 900 cameras under the Mega City project. This is the initial stage of the project,” Police Commissioner M N Reddi said.
The city police will be using the Traffic Management Centre’s infrastructure. “The traffic and law and order department will be collaborating until we set up our own management centre. There is a plan in the pipeline to set up an exclusive centre for law and order.”
The police’s criminal database has close to 36,000 fingerprints of which 8,000 are duplicate. “Since it’s a mammoth task to manually watch 150-plus visuals at a time, we will be using digital analytics and dedicated software to process the data we get from the cameras. The system will automatically alert personnel in case of any emergency.”
The visual data will come in handy in case of any crime. The system will be useful during a mob situation in which it will match the accused person from the database using photographs, sketches or even video grabs. It will then automatically alert the control room and also the nearest police station. However, due to the massive size of data it cannot be stored for a long period and will have to be deleted periodically. “It will take close to nine months to set the project up fully, but the initial stage is up and running,” he added.
According to the latest statistics released by the city traffic police, jumping signals was the traffic lapse committed the most, with 6,88,027 cases being booked under the Accident Prevention Enforcement Measures. This is followed by drunk driving with 6,29,950 cases. The initiative aims to curb such offences.