Bidhannagar police have introduced QR codes to monitor movement of patrol teams and bring down response times in case of an emergency.
An officer said the unique codes, printed on laminated fibre sheets, have been fixed in around 700 locations across the jurisdiction of the commissionerate, places like Salt Lake, New Town, Rajarhat, Baguiati, Lake Town and airport.
Officers heading patrol teams have been asked to scan the QR codes once they reach the points where they have been fixed, an officer said. “For example, if a patrolling map has got 15 points where such codes have been put up then the teams have to scan each QR code on their route once they reach the spots. The immediate location of the team at the spot will then be relayed to control room computers.”
The deputy commissioner, headquarters, Bidhannagar commissionerate, Surya Pratap Yadav, told The Telegraph on Thursday: “First, we will get to know the teams’ immediate location. In case of any emergency or distress signal, the control room will be able to dispatch the nearest team to the location. It will allow senior officers to monitor the patrol teams.”
Apart from installing the QR-code signage at different spots, a mobile app, Prahari, is also in use.
Before the full-fledged launch of this system, the commissionerate had a trial run for over a month.