M G Chetan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: In yet another technological leap by ‘Namma Bengaluru Police’, the city can now boast of Facial Recognition System (FRS) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, which could help in better enforcement of law & order and prevention and detection of crime.

The new systems are functional for the last 4-5 days and being monitored by the Central Command Centre located in the office of the City Police Commissioner. In the initial stage, the city is equipped with cameras that are connected to the police database of known and suspected offenders at five locations like malls and bus stations. “The photographs of the known/suspected offenders will be stored in the database. If a suspect is captured by any of the surveillance cameras, the system alerts the staff at the Central Command Centre. Based on the location of the camera, the nearby Hoysala police patrolling team will be put into action,” a senior police officer said.

“The technology is so advanced that even if the offender surfaces after years by changing his looks by undergoing a surgery, the FRS can recognise him,” the officer claimed.Meanwhile, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system is also functional and has already helped the police in detecting 10 vehicles that were stolen, in just 3-4 days.

Speaking to TNIE, Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said, “The FRS will help us in tracing suspects and offenders, while the ANPR system will help in many ways including tracking traffic rule violators. We will equip the city with the technology in a phased manner.”As many as 15 cameras connected to ANPR system are installed on five stretches in the city. The system helps in tracking stolen vehicles based on the registration number.

New no. plate recognition helps cops

Similar to Facial Recognition System (FRS), the cameras connected to the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system read the registration number of vehicles and match them with the numbers stored in police database. If it matches, an alert will be passed. Numbers of stolen, missing and suspected vehicles will be stored in the database.While FRS is new to policing in India, many reports highlight that it is a failure in many parts of the world, like in the UK. Besides, the technology is also opposed by many organisations citing violation of privacy.

How it works

Picture a mall bustling with people. Surveillance camera there scans the place. If it captures a suspect, system alerts command centre. Since camera is connected to police data base of known offenders/suspects, the moment the alert goes off, a patrol team is sent to the location of the camera.