Novel concept: State-of-the-art policy centre to begin functioning in 2015

The centre will be set up at Qurban Lines.

LAHORE: An integrated command and control centre will be established at Qurban Lines in the second half of 2015 to monitor activities in the city The Express Tribune has learnt.

Telecommunications and Transport DIG Ali Aamir Malik said 2,000 CCTV cameras would be installed at various locations in Lahore to facilitate evidence gathering. He said these would be monitored from the centre.

Malik said the state-of-the-art centre would be equipped with latest intelligence software that would help determine crowd density and track suspicious vehicles with the assistance of a global positioning system (GPS).



He said the Excise and Taxation Department was currently computerising number plates data that the centre’s software would be able to access. Malik said the establishment of the centre would improve the police’s response time and all activities of Rescue 15 would be recorded there. He said officials staffing the centre would be responsible for answering calls for assistance, dispatching teams and closing case files everyday.

Malik said the initiative was the latest in a series of measures taken to revamp the organisational culture of the department.

He said the chief minister had conceived the project. Malik said the chief minister had wanted the centre to start functioning in Muharram but this could not be accomplished due to the novel nature of the concept.  He said reputed consultants and international contractors had been hired to ensure the effective implementation of the project.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2014.