44 ‘high crime zones’ in city to come under CCTV surveillance

The affidavits were filed in a suo motu case being heard by the court on women’s safety after the 2012 December 16 gangrape incident.

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The Delhi Police submitted to the court of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and justice Sanjeev Sachdeva that the “high crime zones” were identified through a crime mapping exercise last year. Last April, police had identified 44 police stations in Delhi which had high incidents of crimes against women such as eve-teasing, molestation and rape.

During the previous hearing in January, the court had pulled up police and the government for failing to take steps to install CCTVs cameras, recruit police personnel and take other proposed steps to reduce crimes against women.

The court had even commented that the government had installed cameras for the visiting US president but “failed to act fast for its own citizens”.

“All Deputy commissioners of police, districts/units were directed to identify vulnerable locations for installation of CCTV cameras keeping in mind the crime mapping study which has already been done by the Delhi Police,” the affidavit said, adding that the DCPs would send proposals of the locations of the cameras, which will then be “surveyed through proper government agencies with regard to the technical support”.

After the survey and technical specifications are complete, the consolidated proposal will be sent to the Home ministry for approval, “for which one more month’s time is required.”

The police affidavit also explained the delay in sanctioning additional police posts, claiming that the Delhi Police has to “delink the proposal for creating 2,907 posts for separation of crime investigation and law and order duties”.

The proposal has been “revisited as per latest crime figures”, and a proposal for 4,749 new posts has been sent to the internal finance department of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the affidavit said.

Further, police stated that 14 of their 15 “priority proposals” were under “active consideration” of the MHA.

The Delhi government has also cited lack of sanctioned personnel as the reason for delay in creating mobile investigation units and forensic labs.

According to the affidavit filed through additional Home Secretary Pankaj Kumar, there is no extra sanctioned staff for separate crime scene mobile units and the existing staff engaged in case work during normal duty hours are being deployed to visit crime scenes which reduced the capacity of case examination work.”

The government has now proposed creation of 11 mobile forensic units along with a crime scene management division, and the Finance department has already sanctioned purchase of two mobile crime scene vehicles, which are expected to be delivered by the end of March.

However, the government has admitted that the “ manpower is yet to be sanctioned by the finance department” and once the vehicles are delivered, “drivers and other staff will be urgently required”.