Bihar Police to equip vehicles with GPS devices to keep tab on lax officials

Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey told The Indian Express: “Over the years, police have been able to deal with serious crime. We have to deal with petty crime such as those of theft and snatching… We are bringing all our vehicles under GPS cover to have a foolproof patrolling system. This system will help us deal with lax officers.”

He added, “We are making best use of technology to deal with other kinds of crime, most of which do not come under category of organised crime.”

Bihar Additional Director General of Police, law and order, Amit Kumar said the GPS devices would help them track multiple locations. A district headquarters with just a computer enabled with Internet can immediately track movement of all its vehicles. “We will now have an executable and digital data and do not have to bank on statements of our officers on patrolling. We will also get to know areas which are less patrolled and also reasons for it, which could be less population, less crime and also non-motorable roads,” said Kumar.

Asked if the GPS-enabled vehicles would help in dealing with lax officers, the ADGP said, “There have been instances of officers parking their vehicles at police stations and saying that they had been on patrol duty. But now, we do not have to ask them. Our own data would make them responsible and answerable.”

Kumar said fitting the GPS devices in a vehicle costs Rs 8,000-9,000 with maintenance of three years. “It is very easy to execute as it comes under financial powers of an SP,” he said.