In summer the crime rate came down to ‘zero’, says police

The zero crime rate means a lot to the police but it is much more to the people who constantly live in fear of threat from house burglars and anti-social elements particularly in burgeoning industrial town like Bhupalpalli.

The police came up with an idea to use the drone cameras being used to shoot public functions for their security and surveillance which yielded good results for them. “Can you imagine there is not a single crime during last summer in the town?,” says Superintendent of Police R. Bhaskaran.

Bhupalpalli was just a small village until the Singareni Collieries started coal mining operations a few years ago. Now the town has 70,000 population spread over 2.5 km amid thick forests all around.

However, the crime rate was related to land disputes, alcoholism and debauching owing to sudden prosperity of people and soaring land prices. Young and tech-savy Mr. Bhaskaran says it was common that people openly booze and take women to outskirts during dark hours. Many of such encounters end up in crime and law and order problems.

Ever since the police started using drone cameras, people intending to resort to extremes felt threatened. The town police take the drone cameras during evening hours with a mobile control room to check the outskirts of town. Spotting the drone camera movements those boozing openly run away hiding in thick foliage for fearing of being identified.

Mr. Bhaskaran said that representatives of some political parties objected to the police using drone cameras. “They say their cadre is being identified and booked in cases. But, our purpose is to identify the mischief mongers,” he asserted.

Elated at the achievement of zero crime rate in town, Mr. Bhaskaran said that they propose to use the drone cameras for security and surveillance on borders of Chattisgarh to check the influx of Maoist party naxals into the district. However, it was still in the proposal stage owing to lacunae in technology in existing cameras available in market.