A police control room van stands idle near Kantatoli Chowk in Ranchi for half an hour on Panchami. SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi - seated in his office 3km away on Radium Road - flashes a wireless message, seeking explanation from the team in uniform.
A policewoman fumbles for words and then says they are monitoring crowd movement near a Durga Puja pandal. She is bowled over when the SSP rattles off the exact location of the van, total run time since morning, maximum speed, fuel consumption and more.
In an unmatched move to ensure safe celebrations in the capital, Ranchi police have embraced a unique application that allows them to track each of the 30 PCR vans equipped with GPS on a real-time basis. V4Track - the app that runs on all Android and Windows devices, be it smartphones or desktop computers - was launched on Wednesday. It has been developed by Gautam Kumar, a private software engineer roped in by the district police.
SSP Dwivedi said they had been receiving frequent complaints about poor patrolling and the app would go a long way in disciplining idle teams.
"Earlier, we had no way apart from physical verification to ascertain whether PCR vans were doing their job. Armed with the app, we can monitor every van on real-time basis. During an emergency, we can quickly mobilise a fleet," he said, adding that the technology would also go a long way in stemming manipulations in the logbook.
Every PCR van roughly covers a radius of 20km or is at least expected to do so. On Thursday, the Ranchi district police chief found only three of the 30 vans on the move. "In the wake of Durga Puja and other upcoming festivities, patrol teams will be briefed on how the new system works. They must mend their ways or face music," Dwivedi said.
Elaborating on how the multi-platform app functions, software engineer Gautam said it could store year-long data of every PCR van despite its modest 3MB download size. "There are satellite and terrain views. With a single tap, one can know how many PCR vans are on the move in which part of the city. The app offers meticulous details like how man times and when a driver turned off the ignition," he said.
According to the software expert, the V4Track system is also enabled with geo-fencing. "This means that if a PCR van is operating beyond its designated area, the app will send an alert to the control room. We can also programme an alert if a PCR van is idling in an area for more than the designated time. Official mobile numbers of all PCR drivers are mapped and they can be contacted anytime," he said.
SSP Dwivedi minced no words to say that the system would be immensely helpful in policing during Puja and otherwise. "By the end of the month, all the 43urban and rural police stations in Ranchi and officers concerned will have access to this service via desktop or mobile," he added.
