SMS alerts help AP cops fight terror

Attention. Being Tuesday, beef-up security around Hanuman temples in your area. Anti-sabotage personnel to conduct access checks.

Attention. Being Tuesday, beef-up security around Hanuman temples in your area. Anti-sabotage personnel to conduct access checks. Attention. Being Friday, please arrange security around mosques, monitor and check vehicles in the area.

These SMS alerts ensure that Hyderabad cops, right from the Deputy Commissioner of Police to constables, don8217;t let their guard down even for a day, against terror attacks. It is not a mobile company that sends them the SMSes but a specially designed software in the Hyderabad City Police Control Room that flashes the SMSs to three different groups 8212; DCPs, ACPs and Inspectors and the ranks below, or the entire police force.

8220;This is our way of keeping the force on alert every day. Due to sheer workload the attention of policemen can easily get diverted to routine tasks. By sending text messages to their mobile phones, we keep reminding them daily about the larger threat that the city faces in the form of terror attacks. Not all policemen carry walkie-talkie sets and radios but since almost the entire force now carries a mobile phone it is easier to reach out to all of them at one go,8221; says Joint Commissioner of Police Security Kripanand Tripathi, who coordinates the entire initiative.

The facility was inaugurated by Police Commissioner B Prasada Rao last month and text messages among police officers have become the latest defense mechanism.

8220;This system saves a lot of time lost in calling officers for briefings from time to time or ahead of a public event or festival. Every week there are certain days when we have to be extra careful as large number of people gather at public places, temples and mosques. A simple SMS that flashes on their mobile phones is enough to remind the officers of their task on a particular day. As everyone is aware of what to do, it also unites and strengthens the force,8221; says Tripathi.

For instance, every Tuesday morning or late on Monday evening, SMS alerts are sent to officers on their mobile phones to ensure additional security around Hanuman temples on Tuesday when large number of devotees turn up there. Similarly, on Thursday morning an SMS goes out to officers under whose jurisdiction there are Sai Baba temples. Alerts also go to anti-sabotage personnel and access-control personnel who are posted outside these public places.