Hi-tech multi-utility vehicles to add muscle to Kochi police

KOCHI: Come next week, the city police will hit the streets on brand new hot wheels or multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) to improve the overall efficiency of the force.

The department will introduce 20 specially-designed Taveras for patrolling and policing activities in the city.

The vehicles, which will be attached to the city police control room, will have hi-tech gadgets like the global positioning system (GPS) and smart vehicle tracking systems (SVTS).

Kochi range IG K Padmakumar said that the new vehicles for the city police would become operational soon.

While nine vehicles will be delivered in a few days, the remaining will be delivered in a phased manner. Currently, these vehicles are being modified with certain additional fittings at Thiruvananthapuram. Each refitted vehicle would cost about Rs 7.5 lakh.

Police officials said that the new fleet of MUVs would help the police deliver better service, especially when it comes to improving response time to emergency calls or crimes in the city. "While a few of them will always be on the move, the others will be stationed at various points in the city," a senior control room official said.

The fleet will help in efforts to improve the response time to five minutes from the current 15 to 20 minutes taken by the police to reach a crime spot. The control room on an average receives 1,000 calls per day.

The SVTS in the new vehicles would enable the control room to track the exact location and movement of the vehicle. Though the earlier control room vehicles had SVTS, which was installed in 2010, the devices stopped functioning as they were allegedly damaged by police personnel to prevent senior police officials from monitoring the movement of patrol vehicles.

The new MUVs will cover areas coming under 24 police stations in the city, including two traffic police stations.

When the control room receives an emergency call, the telephone operator records the information and passes it on to the control room vehicle which is closest to the spot. The information is, simultaneously, conveyed to the nearest police station.

The department will introduce 20 specially-designed Taveras for patrolling and policing activities

* MUVs will have hi-tech gadgets like the global positioning system (GPS) and smart vehicle tracking systems (SVTS)

* Each refitted vehicle would cost about Rs 7.5 lakh

* Fleet will improve response time to five minutes from the current 15 to 20 minutes.

Source:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com