LAHORE: The Punjab government has approved state-of-the-art “Integrated Command and Control Center” to monitor crimes happenings and the response of the police force in cases of major incidents here in provincial metropolis.The project would be completed with an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 billion while the ICCC headquarters is being established at IT Park in Model Town, a top official told this scribe on Monday.The Punjab Chief Minister has approved the ICCC project following the Inspector General of Police Punjab Javed Iqbal sent a summary to Shahbaz Sharif, suggesting the government to digitalise the system of law enforcing agency and equip the police with more advance technology.
“This will be a milestone in the history of the Punjab police. It would help top police officers monitor all police stations and police vehicles through CCTV cameras and trackers respectively,” a police officer said.It is also learnt that a senior officer of the rank of Additional Inspector General of Police will be made head of the ICCC in order to implement the plan in letter and spirit.Police sources further said that all the old and out-of-order vehicles of the police would be replaced with latest model vans while trackers would be installed in all the police vehicles. “For instance, if a bank robbery takes place at Barkat Market Garden Town, the monitoring cell will directly and immediately contact the nearest patrolling police by tracing the (police) vehicles through trackers,” the officer explained.
He further said that CCTV cameras would also be installed at all police stations in Lahore to monitor the activities of the policemen. “It is really a novel idea to keep a check on the traditional Thana culture. If implemented as planned, the monitoring cell will be able to detect the cases of illegal detention, police torture, and even the attitude of the cops with the ordinary citizens,” the officer added.The officer said that Shahbaz Sharif formally granted approval for this initiative and efforts are underway to launch this pilot project, hopefully, by the end of this year. “In simple words, let me tell you the entire Lahore police will be monitored from ICCC through advanced technology,” the officer underlined.
Sources said that the IGP, in this regard, gave the presentation to the Chief Minister in a high-level meeting held at CM Secretariat the other day. The PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif chaired this meeting held to review the police system and to eliminate the Thana culture. All the concerned top police officers attended the meeting.According to official sources, the Software Technology Park (STP) would have world class infrastructure, layout and system of civic services. The planning, designing and development of the software park will reflect the latest trends, styles, specifications and management systems. The ICCC will be set up at the 5th floor, allocated to the Punjab police by the provincial government.
The 17-storey STP building is being constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 4.342 billion ($55.52 million USD) at Ferozepur Road.The STP would be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities like wireless LAN/WAN, VSAT, Video Conferencing, Disaster Recovery Sites, R&D Labs, Tele-Medicine, IT Incubation Center, Training Institutes, IT University, and a Global Data Center. The STP would also offer supporting services such as travel & banking services, health club and security and safety systems. The idea is to have all IT and IT-enabled services under one roof, officials said.
This news was published in print paper. – Nation
