Bangalore Police derail software, beat system

It was set up to make sure cops do their rounds, and not just hang around at their favourite spot to collect their 'hafta'. Under the so-called e-beat system, police brass wanted to use information technology to monitor cops on patrol.

A night beat constable would have to carry a Radio Frequency Reader (RFR) and punch it in at different points on his patrol. Police had tied up with a software company to provide the systems. But it has become dysfunctional even before the e-beat could be rigorously implemented. "I have worked in three police stations so far in the city, but nowhere are the gadgets working properly," said a police inspector.

It has been nearly a year since the agreement between the police department and the software company, which was providing the technical support, expired,  and since then the e-beat system, too, has been lying moribund. When this was pointed out to the commissioner of police, BG Jyothi Prakash Mirji, he admitted the contract with a Hyderabad-based company had ended. "We have called for fresh tenders, and as early as possible we will start the e-beat again," he said.

Police had installed digital beat monitoring systems in at least five places within the limits of each police station. After Bangalore, it was also introduced in Mysore and Hubli. Additional commissioner of police (administration) Prashant Kumar Thakur said, "The gadgets we had earlier were not weather-proof and many of them are not functioning." For the fresh tenders, a budget of `2.6 crore has been allotted. "We will require at least 800 systems, (wired, wireless and sim cards), so that in a police station area we can have around 10 gadgets," Thakur said.