Bibhas Chandra Saha
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police is going digital by June this year with the modernisation of its control room for better policing and traffic management.
Automatic vehicle location surveillance system, digital database map, mobile command post, four channel-tracking wireless and closed-circuit television cameras are some of the features of the planned modern control room for the DMP.
The main task under the project is setting up of a self-supported tower, being constructed on the Abdul Gani Road and is expected to be completed by May this year, a senior DMP official said.
All the 35 police stations plus the proposed six more under the DMP, the police headquarters, Rapid Action Battalion, Armed Police Battalion, Special Branch, Criminal Investigation Department and home ministry will be brought under the network, making it easier for the police to combat crimes, also maintain discipline and control vehicular movement smoothly, the official said.
‘The objective of the control room modernisation is to ensure prompt and effective steps for checking crimes, safeguarding VIPs, maintaining discipline and controlling vehicular movement by upgrading the overall standard of police service,’ said the DMP commissioner, Naim Ahmed.
Under the project, a total of 155 CCTV cameras will be set up at 59 traffic crossings, including the entrance and exit points of the Dhaka city to facilitate constant surveillance.
There will be message boards at 31 spots on the roads to divert traffic.
‘In case of any emergency, like VIP movement and traffic congestion, instructions will be sent through the boards.’
The photographs taken by the CCTV cameras will be monitored in 35 panels in the control room by a group of professionals. The monitoring officers will be trained in this regard. The recording capacity of the cameras is unlimited.
The digital data-base map will bring the entire metropolis under a network that will help locate and communicate with the forces on the ground.
With the four-channel wireless, law enforcers will be able to communicate with other forces such as the Rapid Action Battalion or intelligence agencies, which will enable them to maintain good coordination among them, another DMP official said.
Home ministry officials said the initiative for setting up a modern police control room was taken in 1997, but lack of coordination among the authorities concerned and land-related complications delayed its finalisation.
The government in November, 2006 issued work order of Tk 26 crore to Folec Communications (B) Sdn Bhd of Brunei Darussalam and it was scheduled to be completed by June, 2007.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
