Jagan flags off 163 'Disha' patrol vehicles for women safety

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy flagged off a fleet of 163 Disha patrol vehicles and 18 caravans on Wednesday.

The vehicles, Reddy said, would improve the police response time in attending to women and children in emergency situations and also control the crimes against women.

All the Disha patrol vehicles are connected to the district control rooms through GPS for direct monitoring. These vehicles carry out continuous patrols in crime-prone areas. The staff will respond in 4-5 minutes in towns and 8-10 minutes in villages, in case of an emergency.

To provide a safer environment for women and children, these vehicles will be able to identify and map all possible crime areas within each police station limit, as well as identify and map details of past crime, time and place, officials said.

900 two-wheelers were already made available in the state for the purpose. 3000 other vehicles will also be equipped with GPS for the protection of women in distress, Reddy said.

About 1.16 crore women in the state have downloaded the Disha App, which the government had brought in as a safety-security tool for women, girls. A special SOS feature allows any woman in danger to alert the local police just by shaking her phone five times or pressing the SOS button in the app.

Mobile restrooms for women police

The 18 caravans are equipped with restrooms, dressing rooms for use by the women police, keeping their needs in view.

The decision to procure these mobile restrooms was taken as women police officers on duty at various events often face difficulty in accessing proper restrooms. The government will establish 30 mobile restrooms in total.

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