BHUBANESWAR: With an aim to track the day-to-day activities of cops on enforcement duties, the Commissionerate of Police is all set to roll out a unique initiative in the capital city. Around 20 selected police officers will use ‘body cameras’ while on duty. The project, which is still on papers, has already been approved by the top brass of the Twin City police.
By the end of this month, the proposal would be sent to the Home Department for the Government’s approval. If the scheme of things is executed smoothly, the capital denizens will soon spot more than a dozen ACP and Inspector-ranked officials with pen-sized cameras fitted to their uniform. Sources said the project is likely to be implemented by the first week of September.
The devices would be unique and different from spy-cams, said Police Commissioner Yogesh Bahadur Khurania. The cameras would be of high resolution, capable of recording audio and video with clarity.
In the recent past, incidents of public harassing lower-rung policemen on duty have been on a rise. The instances are common with offenders who do not hesitate to take on the constables on duty after violating traffic rules, said a senior official of the Traffic wing.
In the first phase, traffic police officials will be equipped with the cameras which will have a capacity of recording audio and video for a duration of around 10 hours. At the end of duty hours, the officer concerned would transfer the day’s feed to a hard disk. The feed from all such devices would be stored in a central server. Currently, there are no plans to link the server to the Modern Control Room.
The cost of one body camera would range between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000. The Commissionerate of Police has earmarked a budget of around Rs 3 lakh for the pilot phase of the project.
The body cameras, once in place, would put a check on instances of unruly behaviour of public as well as the cops. This would help bring transparency in enforcement activities, Khurania said. "After an assessment of the pilot project, we would take a decision on extending the facility to other officers such as IICs,’’ the Commissioner added.