Entire Dhaka to come under surveillance

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) are expected to enter the digital era of traffic management and crime control within a year by setting up a unified control room that will bring the whole city under surveillance.
Under this "command, control and communications systems" (C3S), 155 sophisticated surveillance cameras will be installed at 59 points in the capital including its nine entrances and exits. The cameras will cover the whole metropolis and be linked to the C3S control room through microwave links.
Police officials involved with the project said the system will provide a centralised command-and-control system with a new fully digital mobile radio communications system of the Tetra (terrestrial trunk radio) communication standard. It will facilitate the law enforcers with automatic vehicle location (AVL) system with geographical information system (GIS).
DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed recently told The Daily Star that the modern facilities will bring about significant changes in traffic management and crime control. The whole picture of the city could be seen sitting in the control room, he added.
Police officials said a four-storey building on a 15-storey foundation has already been built for the C3S control room on Abdul Gani Road in the city under the government-funded project worth Tk 64 crore.
The whole compound on 4.82 acres of land will also have a 90-metre tall tower, two police barracks and a parade ground. The control room will feature other facilities and will require 30 trained people to run it.
Under the project, electronic signboards for displaying traffic information will be set up at 31 points so that people can take alternative routes.
The C3S control room will be able to track down if a vehicle drives away after an incident and will send continuous information to police patrol teams about the vehicle's position. The GIS will help the control room locate a police team or a patrol vehicle.
Thus, it will be possible to order the nearest patrol team to rush to the place of occurrence with 100 percent secrecy through the digital radio communications system, police officials said, adding that there will also be option for video recording.
They said later the system will also be applied to the telephone system.
Officials at the police telecommunications wing said necessary equipment has already been purchased and will be imported soon from Germany while infrastructure development work is going on in full swing.
The project is supposed to be implemented by June 2008.
Although new in Bangladesh, the technology was used in many European countries 10 years back, police officials said.