Click to alert cops on terrorists

Police Plan To Use MMS And GPS To Track Suspicious Persons

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: If you see a suspicious person, now in addition to just informing the police about it, you can also click a picture of the person with your cellphone and send it via MMS to the police control room. The cops will then zero in on the person and take necessary action. The MMS-GPS technology is soon to be the police’s latest tool to nab terrorists.

“After the 7/11 train bombings, policemen have been asking citizens to be more alert and various projects including ‘Unbreakable Mumbai’ were introduced as part of an awareness campaign,’’ said an officer working on the MMS project. “With this facility we can aim to prevent crime and terrorism.’’

The police have some patrol vehicles with the GPS system, which gives the exact location of a police vehicle, and plan to install GPS in at least 150 vehicles in the next one month. “On many occasions, an accused or a suspect is caught based on information passed on by a responsible citizen. With this new system, we can alert the nearest police patrol team to catch a suspect once we get an MMS (containing location and photograph) of a suspicious man,’’ said a police officer. “We are in the process of improving facilities and will install GPS in at least 150 patrol vehicles and some other police vehicles too,’’ he added.

The MMSes could be sent from any part of the city and from any vehicle except the local trains. They will be received at the control room at the police headquarters. The control room has a server which shows details of the city’s roads, railway stations, important junctions, highways, vital installations, monuments etc. Once an MMS is received, the police personnel there will find out the location from where the MMS was sent through the mobile number and immediately alert the nearest patrol vehicle. A description of the person will also be dispatched to help the team trace the person and question him/her. The department is also in the process of installing screens in police vehicles where the MMS containing the photograph could be forwarded, an officer said.

At present, the control room receives over 15,000 phone calls at the call centre in the police commissioner’s office compound every day including many phone calls alerting policemen about suspicious persons or suspicious activities. Such calls are received on a telephone line called Dial 100 for emergencies and distress situations.

mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com

The Times of India, March 14, 2007