BHUBANESWAR: A mobile application has been linked with the Commissionerate Police’s integrated and unified command and control centre (I&UCCC) here to enable senior officers to monitor sensitive crime scene investigations through live video and audio communications made by the cops on ground zero.
Additional Commissioner of Police Umashankar Dash said, “We can now monitor sensitive crime scene investigations and major raids in real time by sitting inside the command centre at the Commissionerate Police headquarters through the app provided to assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) and above ranked officers.”
The app will assist officers in ensuring safety and security of police personnel if they are prevented from performing their duties at a crime scene or if there is any imminent danger to them during a major raid. If such threats are noticed through the live video and audio feed, reinforcements can be sent to the spot immediately, he said.
The app will also be useful to monitor the foot patrols carried out by police in the city, he said.
Officials of VL Access India private limited, which has developed the mobile application, said the programme’s licence has been provided to the officers of Bhubaneswar Urban Police District (UPD) and installed in their devices.
“CCTV cameras are not available in every corner of the city, especially in the remote areas. If a crime has occurred in such a place, police personnel visiting the spot can share the live feed of the scene through the application and senior officers can monitor the investigation from the command centre,” said director of VL Access Tanmaya Mohapatra.
The app will also help in maintaining transparency if any big seizure of contraband, arms/ammunition or other incriminating articles is made during a raid in the city, he added.
Sources said I&UCCC, which was inaugurated earlier in the year, will soon undergo some major upgrades. As part of the expansion plan, more than 120 automatic licence-plate recognition (ALPR) cameras with advanced deep-learning algorithms will be installed in all the entry/ exit points and sensitive areas of the city and integrated with I&UCCC.
The cameras will also be integrated with facial recognition software to help in tracing missing persons if their photographs are uploaded in the system of the command centre.
This apart, plans are also afoot to integrate the databases of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and Prisons department with I&UCCC so that police are able to monitor the movement and activities of habitual offenders when they walk out of jails.