Police force modernisation has shown positive results’
Express news service
Posted online: Friday , October 26, 2007 at 12:00:00
Updated: Friday , October 26, 2007 at 12:47:54

Mumbai, October 25 Modernisation of the Mumbai Police force is already showing results in key areas that are directly related to the public. Giving an overview of the various modernisation programmes being undertaken by the police force and its results, Joint Commissioner of Police Hemant Kharkare on Thursday said that their responsiveness to calls made on emergency number 100 and Citizen Facilitation Centre (CFC) has improved drastically.

Speaking to mediapersons, Kharkare said these programmes are being undertaken with the funding of the Central government and the state since 2000. So far, Rs 240 crore has been allocated for these programmes which have been given an extension till the year 2010 from 2005.

Citing an example of benefits from modernisation programmes, Kharkare said, “Earlier, the response time to any call was approximately 10 minutes, post-modernisation it has been reduced to seven minutes.”

Under the modernisation plan, the Mumbai Police department control room has equipped itself with Geographical Information System (GIS) that has the digitised maps of the city with its landmarks and routes.

The GIS integrated with the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices fitted on police vehicles provides the personnel manning the control room with the exact location of the vehicles.

“Once the call arrives, it would be classified as per its importance and forwarded to the ‘dispatcher’ concerned. The dispatchers will have the location of both, the caller and the nearest police vehicle. Accordingly, they will dispatch the nearest vehicle to the spot,” said Kharkare.

He added, “There is more accountability as the time taken for the whole process would be computed in the system.”

Another front where the modernisation has brought about a drastic change is the CFC. The CFC located near the reception area of the Mumbai police head office, near Crawford Market, accepts applications seeking permits for theatre, hotel and arms.

The applicants can know the status of their applications by dialing 1090 and giving the docket number given to them at the time of receiving the application.

Publication : IE; Section : MN; Section : News; Pg : 3; Date : 26/10/07

URL : http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Police-force-modernisation-has-shown-positive-results/232483/