Safety Islands in Bengaluru: What are they and how do they work?

The cops have reportedly selected areas where there are high footfalls of women and installed these devices.

Bengaluru police have installed almost 30 ‘Safety Island’ devices across the city to help those in distress to reach out the police. The cops have reportedly selected areas where there are high footfalls of women and installed these devices.

Safety Islands in Bengaluru:

What are Safety Island devices?

These are telephone booth like structures which are blue in color installed at different junctions of Bengaluru. When anyone is in distress and away or inaccessible to their mobile phone, they can use these safety islands to contact nearby police stations. A CCTV footage is also installed near each safety island and to give a real time update about the person who called to the police.

How to use Safety Island devices?

The user should reach out to one of the devices and press the SOS button on the device. It will connect to the nearby control room and depending on situation of the person who called, the police staff will reach the location as soon as possible. It is designed in a way that the person who is in trouble could reach out to police even while his/her is not in a position to use the mobile phone.

For all kinds of emergencies in Bengaluru, the city police already operate an emergency toll free number 112. However, Safety Islands are said to be additional street devices for enhanced public safety in the IT capital. According to reports, Bengaluru police have not received any distress calls through these devices, ever since they were installed.