Coimbatore city police begin work on creating ‘digital eye’

Coimbatore: The city police have initiated a project to integrate CCTV cameras in their jurisdiction with the central control room at the commissioner's office to create a ‘digital eye' to monitor the city round the clock, reduce emergency response time and aid crime detection.Moving away from traditional and expensive methods, police have adopted a cost-effective solution to link the cameras using fibre optic cables. "We have decided to utilize the existing cable TV network infrastructure for seamless integration. The operators have extended their full cooperation for this public safety initiative," a senior police official said. The initiative has recorded its first success in RS Puram area, where 350 cameras were linked to the control room. With more than 20,000 cameras in the city, the department now plans to expand the integration in phases following the successful trial. This includes linking cameras currently monitored at individual police stations and integrating cameras installed by private organizations in public spaces and residential neighbourhoods. Presently, only around 700 of the 20,000-odd cameras installed by police and private entities in the city are directly linked to the city police commissionerate. Once all 20,000 cameras are integrated, police personnel would no longer need to visit crime spots physically to retrieve footage. "Our personnel at the control room will monitor the feeds round the clock. If any suspicious activity or crime is detected in real time, the information will be instantly relayed to the respective police station to prevent the incident or nab the suspects on the move," the official said.