Cops At Police Station Reception Desk In Bhubaneswar To Wear Body Cameras

Bhubaneswar: To check unruly behaviour at police stations, the Twin City Commissionerate Police on Sunday launched a pilot project, equipping cops at the reception desk with body cameras to record their interactions with the complainants who come to lodge their FIRs.

This assumes significance in the aftermath of the alleged custody torture of an army officer and his fiancee at Bharatpur police station which sparked nationwide outrage.

The pilot project has been launched 15 police stations under the Commissionerate on a pilot basis to ensure accountability and transparency in policing.

Additional Commissioner Umashankar Mishra visited Kharavel Nagar police station for an inspection during the day.

Sources said that the wearable body camera will be able to capture both audio and video of police personnel and the visitors. The device also has a panic button which the Diary Charge Officer (DCO) or anyone deployed at the reception desk can press, sending an alarm to higher authorities, including Commissioner of Police and the DCP, who also have access to the recording.

““The body cameras will help monitor behaviour of cops towards people visiting police stations. The cameras will also enable police to record the behaviour of any visitor if he/she acts in an unruly way,” said Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh

The device is also being introduced as the Commissionerate Police doesn’t want to take any chance ahead of the DGP conference in Bhubaneswar, the sources said.

Notably, 240 body worn camera and 16 dash board camera were provided to traffic personnel after two cops were allegedly assaulted by an unruly motorcyclist in 2017. Introduction of these cameras had led to a sharp decline in instances of misbehaviour with traffic personnel and better compliance of road safety rules, sources added.