QR Code Effectiveness!!!! QR codes ensure policemen remain on the beat
The soon-to-be-operational Subhahu, an Android app, will make the delivery of police assistance efficient and accountable
: In what is a probably a first in the State,
Bidar Police will start using a mobile app to help constables conduct their
night beats efficiently.
Subhahu, the Android application developed by
a team of young IT engineers in Bengaluru, will help police personnel complete
their night beat rounds on time, not miss a street or house, and react to
emergencies immediately. The electronic beat system (e-beat) is likely to
become operational in a month.
The application can be loaded on to the
smartphones of constables and officers, or a specially designed tablet can be
used for the purpose.
A map of the city, with details of the beats
and the officers responsible for them, is embedded in the system. When
connected to a server in the district police office, it directs the constable
to move from house A to house B, and they get alerts if they miss houses or
streets.
Fail-safe techniques
The system works online and real-time data is
fed into the server. Supervising officers can access it while the beat is on,
and afterward as well. Any delays in completing the beat will be notified to
the Superintendent of Police (SP) and other officers.
Houses and streets will be affixed with quick
response code tags. Constables can go around scanning them. The codes contain
the address and other details of the house or shop owner. The app adds the
global positioning system (GPS) and time stamps on the data sheet prepared at
the end of the beat.
There are some fail-safe techniques built
into the app to stop personnel from misusing it. For example, no officer can
collect the tags from all homes and scan them at his office or home without
going out on the beat. That will be detected immediately as the address and GPS
tags will not match.
“We will introduce the system in Bidar city
first, and then move to other towns and villages in the next phases,” said
Superintendent of Police (SP) Prakash Nikam. “It has advantages over the
earlier e-beat system.”
The older e-beat system uses steel sensors
that can be damaged by rain. Some were stolen, and some stopped working due to
the lack of maintenance. The new QR code tags are printed on waterproof paper.
“They will not go away easily. What is more, after a few beats, there would no
need for the code tag. The app will pick up GPS locations by itself when the
constable walks in front of the house, with or without the tag,” the SP said.
Dynamic and cost-effective
The tool is dynamic and we can change it to
suit local needs, said Mr. Nikam, a computer science engineer by training. “We
already have a fixed list of houses and streets for carrying out the night
beats. We can add some more houses when their owners go on vacations, leaving
them locked for a few days. We will subscribe to the app and see if it serves
our purpose. If it helps us, we will increase its usage,” he added.
“We will organise a training session on using
the system for our personnel. We will also collect feedback from staff on how
it can be further improved,” said S. Hari Babu, Additional Superintendent of
Police (ASP).
The tags are cost effective and 20,000 houses
in the city can be tagged for under Rs. 1 lakh, according to initial estimates.
Source | The Hindu | 9 January 2017
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Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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