Media persons briefed about Safe City’s operation
Zubair Qureshi
A delegation of media persons, mostly crime reporters, visited Islamabad’s Safe City project on Friday and learned about its working, operation and the use of digital technology for prevention of crime through online monitoring.
CPO Safe City project, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Shoaib Khurram Janbaz who assumed charge only last month briefed the media persons. There are a number of plans to enhance efficiency and scope of the project. It is currently meeting the latest international standards and with the surveillance cameras installed in various parts of the Islamabad Capital territory (ICT) around 60 per cent of the urban area of ICT is covered while overall, 30 percent of the ICT territory is being monitored through cameras, he said.
Almost all the key installations, sensitive areas, roads and market places of Islamabad are under 24-hour surveillance and the staff and operators at the police operation centre are keeping an eye monitoring not only the traffic flow but also any crime or suspicious movement.
According to DIG Shoaib Janbaz, a key component of the Safe City is to prevent access and movement of wanted persons and unauthorized vehicles in the city and to minimize the possibility of terrorist attack and criminal activities.
Integration of National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) with the Facial Detection and Recognition System of Safe City has been envisaged and details of the most wanted persons have been added to the facial identity system.
Currently, we are working with around 2,500 surveillance cameras but in the coming days another 2,500 cameras will be added to the system while the CDA and DHA’s cameras are also being integrated in our system, he said. E-challan is also a new and hi-tech feature of the Safe City and sitting in front of the giant screens our operator can issue e-challans on the mobile phones of the violator after noticing violation, said he. It may be mentioned here that Islamabad Traffic Police has also been brought under the Safe City project. Likewise, traffic jams are also being monitored and streamlined, he said, referring to the recent traffic jams during the Eid days. we brought it to the notice of the ITP to rush to the choked points. Currently, the Safe City Project is equipped with 20 Smart Cars, 8 drone cameras and 260 well-equipped cars and over 300 motorbikes and the response time is around 5-8 minutes.
