More CCTVs, better infra on the cards for Delhi Police this year: Asthana

According to senior officials, of the total money, ₹9,808.39 crore has been allotted for establishment-related expenditure and ₹287 crore under the ‘capital’ section

The Delhi Police will buy advance equipment, vehicles and install an extensive network of CCTVs for surveillance across the city by using funds from the enhanced budget allocated to the force this year by the Union government, commissioner Rakesh Asthana has said.

Delhi Police chief Rakesh Asthana said the increased allocation will ensure better infrastructure for the Delhi Police (Arun Sharma/HT Archive)

The centre allocated Rs10,355.29 crore to the Delhi Police in the Union Budget -- up from Rs8,654.26 crore in the last financial year. According to senior officials, of the total money, ₹9,808.39 crore has been allotted for establishment-related expenditure and ₹287 crore under the ‘capital’ section.

Asthana said the increased allocation will ensure better infrastructure for the Delhi Police. “ ₹259 crore will be used for enhancing police infrastructure — construction of office buildings, residential buildings and operation and maintenance of new police headquarters building through public-private partnership, and the allocation under the ‘capital’ head – ₹287 crore – will be used for installing more CCTVs and procurement of various advanced equipment for effective law and order management. We are all set to upgrade our communication systems such as cyber highway and digital trunking radio system besides implementation of Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), with proper allocation in the budget. We are also inducting various types of vehicles this year for advanced policing,” he said.

The commissioner also said that the “Safe City Project” which involves use of artificial intelligence-based proactive policing will be one of the priority initiatives. “By the end of this year, we hope to install 10,000 more CCTV cameras, which will be integrated at the Central Command Room under ‘Safe City Project’ of Ministry of Home Affairs. At present, Delhi police has over 8,500 operational and 6,600 under process CCTV cameras. With the help of these cameras at public places, the police will ensure public safetyin lone stretches. Further, as the video feeds of all the cameras will be linked to our Integrated Command and Control Centre, we will be able to apply data analytics over CCTV feeds and integrated crime and criminal databases to develop actionable information,” he said.

The police chief also said that they will also enhance training facilities. “The old buildings of the Delhi Police Academy (earlier known as Police Training College) will get state-of-the-art look. It is all set to become one of the best police academies in the world, where we’ll have best faculties in all streams including law, technology and cyber-forensic sciences. As per our Perspective Plan 2030 and Action Plan 2024, we’ll also hold regular orientation and interaction sessions of police personnel with the officials from judiciary and civil administration. Coordination with other agencies will boost the investigation skills of our personnel,” he said.

Asthana further said that it has been planned to make all Police Stations equipped with advanced vehicles as it has been provided in the budget this year. “This budget is exceptionally encouraging for us. Having the responsibility of maintaining the law and order scenario in the national Capital, we need to remain on the heels round the clock. Delhi Police hopes for more police - public partnership and a stronger relation with civil society, which will multiply its acumen in the various dimensions of day to day policing in the capital,” he said.

Outlining the measures to be taken for better safety of women, Asthana said that women safety is of utmost priority to the Delhi Police. “We have identified over 891 shadow areas and 303 weak mobile signal spots. The patrolling and intelligence will be increased in these areas. Pink booths with women police are already operational in north and north west districts and very soon it will be implemented in the remaining districts. To further strengthen the mechanism to check the crime against women and other weaker sections of the society including children and senior citizens, besides arresting all the accused and providing all possible legal help to the victims, the charge sheet will be filed in minimum possible time. We’ll also ensure a speedy and fast track trial in the court,” he said.