BENGALURU: The plan of the city police to instal 500 cameras with Facial Recognition System (FRS) using the central government’s Nirbhaya fund is set to get delayed as the project is yet to be approved by the state government. Tenders are likely to be called for the initiative only after the model code of conduct ends.
“We sent the proposal to the Centre five-six months ago. We plan to instal FRS cameras in places where there is high footfall of women, such as colleges, hostels, malls, tech parks, factories and other offices. We launched a pilot project by putting up five cameras at Orion mall, Mantri mall, Banashankari bus stand, Yeshwanthpur railway station and Majestic bus stand,” said Ajay Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Control Room, adding that they were able to nab those involved in pick-pocketing and chain-snatching cases through these cameras.
The cameras are connected to the back-end data of criminals and suspects in City Crime Records Bureau. Even if 30 per cent of a person’s face caught on camera matches with that of a suspect, criminal or missing person, an alarm goes off in the control room. The software alerts the concerned police station, the beat police who are on their bikes and the Hoysalas nearby.
Recently, a woman who was allegedly involved in a chain-snatching case in 2014 was caught on an FRS camera near Majestic bus stand. Within 10 minutes, the police were alerted and were able to catch her on the spot.
“The Centre has allotted Rs 667 crore as a part of the Nirbhaya fund. The Detailed Project Report has been sent to the state government, which has to approve it. We are also working on how to execute this project, in terms of the locations, if we must do it in phases, and the kind of technology to use,” MN Anucheth, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Administration), said. “The fund is for a period of three years and we have proposed 7,500 surveillance cameras, of which 500 will have facial recognition technology. The tenders are likely to be floated in June, after the model code of conduct ends. It will take five to six months for the project to be executed on ground,” he added. The proposal also includes 4,500 bullet (still) cameras, 1,500 PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras and 1,000 number plate recognition cameras.