As T Nagar prepares to accommodate heavy footfall of shoppers due to Deepavali, Christmas and New Year, the Chennai police are stepping up surveillance in the area. The policemen will be seen monitoring the crowd wearing a jacket fitted with a bodycam.
According to reports, this new initiative is a part of an integrated security system which already has around 750 network cameras and a few camera-fitted drones, monitoring the Mambalam and T Nagar police station limits. AK Viswanathan, the Commissioner of Police inaugurated the surveillance equipment on Saturday a the Mambalam police station.
The bodycam-fitted jackets are also equipped with a GPS device and a high-beam torchlight, which starts functioning once the beat officer wears it. It can transmit the live relay of the recording to the concerned police station, where police personnel will monitor it realtime, which helps to put reinforcements in place in times of crisis.
“We have brought the area under constant surveillance with the installation of CCTV cameras and the introduction of drone cameras, deploying beat constables with smart jackets that have cameras attached to their bodies. In view of the festival shopping season, police watch towers have been established in seven locations and monitoring CCTV units have been installed in eight locations. All arrangements have been made to ensure the safety of the public who throng the area for shopping,” AK Viswanathan told the reporters after the inauguration.
Mini-control rooms and booths have also been opened in three locations and police assistance booths in five places within Mambalam and Soundarapandianar Angadi (Pondy Bazaar) police station limits.
The police are also mulling establishment of similar security arrangements in other commercial areas such as Purasawalkam, Washermanpet, Velachery and Tambaram.