Hyderabad: The state police is conducting a test of a drone camera with mike and siren as a first responder to select emergency dial 100. After its successful testing and obtaining approval from various agencies, these drones will be deployed to help police patrols and police control room staff.
A Bangalore-based company has designed the drone camera. DSP Srinath Reddy who is part of the project said, “Our initial plan is to deploy this drone camera in road accidents, crimes against women, and certain public nuisance situations in response to emergency dial 100.”
The IT and Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister KT Rama Rao on the eve of inaugurating ‘Public Safety Integrated Operations and Data Center’ had mooted the idea. He said, “In order to control the crime, we have to use cutting-edge technology.”
The police started working on this project in November 2020. Once deployed, the time for police to reach the crime scene would be drastically shortened.
From the initial testing it became clear that the drone camera weighing 1.5 to 2 kg and after mounting the mike and siren, it would weigh 4 to 5 kgs. It will be deployed as a first responder within a diameter of 5 km.
The Police control center staff will feed information from dial 100 select calls into the drone which will reach the crime scene through auto mode. The control room staff would take the necessary action by looking at the visuals provided by the drone camera.
Each drone camera would cost between Rs. 1.5 to 2 lakh. As per an assessment, in order to cover all three commissionerates of the city, about 75 drones would be needed.
The police officials want to deploy these drone cameras initially at the important locations of the city and their use will be increased gradually on the basis of feedback about its efficacy.