App keeps beat cops on tight leash

BENGALURU: A new app-based initiative by the South East Division police is not only making beat patrolling more efficient, but is also allowing senior police officers and area residents to keep track of the movement of beat policemen.

Initiated by Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Isha Pant, the move ensures transparency and allows all stakeholders to know whether beat police personnel are on regular and efficient beats. It has been in operation over the last few days and Pant has found it to be working with “100 percent efficiency”.
It works with beat policemen scanning QR codes at beat points using their smartphones, and details about their whereabouts are uploaded on the app — ‘Subahu’.

Data pertaining to the precise whereabouts of beat policemen are relayed realtime to senior police officials, who have to keep track of their beat teams, and citizens, who have downloaded the app.

Pant told The New Indian Express, “Earlier, beat constables went to a beat point and made an entry in a notebook mentioning the time of their visit. This was not useful as we could not go and check every notebook. There are 1,300 beat points in the south east division. Many of our men wouldn’t even come for beat policing. With the QR code system, it has become 100 per cent efficient, while it was 50-60% earlier.”
The police have placed QR tags on compound walls and even gates. “The tracking is done with the help of GPS. The beat points are more at places where crime incidents are more or where the area is sensitive. It is mandatory for beat personnel to visit these points. We needed 100 percent efficiency, which we could not achieve earlier.”

She explained that if a crime has been committed at a specific place and time, the officers will know through the app which beat police officers were present at the spot to conduct further inquiries. “We can even go back to previous dates and check the time and place where the officers were present,” she said.
Shopowners and residents too can keep tabs on the movement of beat cops. “The stickers can be stuck on shops or on walls of residences. Once the beat officer scans the building, the owner will get an alert,” she said.

A resident from HSR Layout said, “We see beat police officers every day now which was not the case earlier.”Already, the Whitefield division has started the facility.