Modern crime fighting: Police launches mobile SOS alert service for schools

The software can text, call up to 10 local police stations.

PESHAWAR:

As people around the world tweet their Facebook and Whatsapp their Tinder while skyping with Viber, it is just as well that the police is now a tap away on your mobile phone. 

The provincial police has launched the android-based One-Click SOS Alert Service to enable vulnerable and sensitive institutions, including schools, to inform the police about any emergency whatsoever through just a tap on the mobile phone, stated a handout issued on Monday.

“The service has been introduced keeping in view the fact that at times it gets difficult for a person in distress to contact the police or to provide the exact details of their location,” it added.

Through this service, any individual or the management of an institute under attack can alert the police by an application installed on their android phone.

As soon as a person taps the alert button on the mobile device, up to ten different police stations in the locality will be notified by the app, while alerts would also be sent to relevant district police control room, relevant field officers and the Central Police Office.

According to the handout, the alerts to the police will be sent in the form of a text message as well as a phone call. The police will be notified of the address and exact location of the site under attack. Moreover, the alert message will also contain the coordinates of the venue and plot the shortest possible route for police responders to reach.

The service is initially being offered to all schools and educational institutions in the provincial capital.  It will soon be extended to sensitive institutes and educational centres across the province.

Where Peshawar ends

IGP Nasir Khan Durrani paid a surprise visit to the city’s outskirts on Monday, particularly areas bordering Khyber Agency.

Durrani visited areas that fall in the jurisdiction of Mattani, Sarband and Badhaber police stations. Owing to their proximity to the tribal areas, these localities remain vulnerable to and have witnessed attacks from militants operating from the tribal belt in the past.

According to a press release, IGP Durrani inspected police stations and border check posts at Sheikhan, Aziz Market, Speen Qabar, Sheen Darang, Mashogagar and Zangali.

The police chief interacted with the personnel deployed on these check posts and enquired about their welfare. While expressing satisfaction over the police officials’ performance, the IGP praised them for their bravery and termed them the pride of the provincial police.

Moreover, IGP Durrani also met locals in Badhaber Bazaar and Zangali areas. He urged the residents to keep a close watch on suspicious elements in their neighbourhoods and promptly inform the police if suspicions arise over anyone’s activities.

The locals assured Durrani that they would cooperate with the police to thwart militant activities in the vicinity.

The IGP also enquired if the locals have any grievances with the police and upon their reply, he directed field officers to address the problems immediately.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2014.