16k cameras at Rs 667 cr for Bengaluru women’s safety

Bengaluru will get over 16,000 surveillance cameras, face recognition technology and predictive policing as the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 667-crore plan to make the city safe for women under the Nirbhaya scheme.

The “Safe City Project” will be implemented over a three-year period, Law Minister J C Madhuswamy said.

“The Cabinet has approved the request for proposal based on a plan submitted by the Bengaluru city police commissioner,” Madhuswamy said. “The Centre will give 60% of the funds, whereas the state will foot the remaining 40%.”

The plan involves 7,500 day/night surveillance cameras, 5,000 fixed cameras with server-based video analytics, 1,000 pan tilt zoom cameras, 1,000 automated number plate recognition cameras, 500 facial recognition cameras and 1,100 body worn cameras.

As many as 126 workstations will be set up to monitor the video feed and do incidence management.

All of this will be connected to a 40-seat Command and Control Centre and two such centres that will be mobile.

Also, the city police will take up GIS-based crime mapping for predictive policing.

“It is proposed to create safety islands for women that will be monitored 24x7. There will be a panic button installed that women in distress can press to seek help. A hooter will start ringing and the nearest police station and patrol vehicle will be alerted,” Madhuswamy explained.

The government will send the proposal to the Centre by the end of this month, the minister said.

It is also planned to open women police outposts and set up women help desks in police stations.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs chose Bengaluru and seven other metropolitan cities to pilot Safe City projects.