Police stations to be interlinked soon

KOCHI: Police stations in the state will soon be interlinked using video conferencing facilities, easing the workload of policemen. The facility is part of the modernization drive of the police force, a Central government project that is being implemented across the state.
The police department plans to implement this project in three phases, and expects to complete the third phase by 2013.
In the first phase, the police headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram will be linked to Zonal offices, Range offices and district headquarters. A senior official at the police headquarters said the first phase of the project would cost about Rs 9 crore, and would be completed in a couple of months.
In the second phase, circle inspector offices across the state would be brought into the loop. In the last phase, the remaining police stations will be connected. The project is being implemented with the technical support of Keltron.
The system to be installed in police stations will have a multi-conferencing unit, one management server and a video recorder. The new facility will utilize the existing connectivity and will activate instant video communication access down to districts.
Once implemented, police officials can hold discussions, interrogate the accused and discuss policies keeping their superiors in the loop.
Many police officials said that such a system would save their time and increase productivity as they would not have to spend time travelling to police headquarters for meetings and conferences.
According to K Padmakumar, inspector general of police (Ernakulam Range), the system would be helpful in dealing with routine work from the office itself. Police officials won't have to go to their respective headquarters for discussions and approvals except in the case of extraordinary matters, he said.
"The new system will be helpful to even common people at a later stage. Any person who wants to talk to a senior police official can easily contact him from any police station through video conferencing. Even an accused can be interrogated though this facility," said Padmakumar.