Indian police to start using drones for city survelliance
The Kolkata police force is planning to acquire 50 drones that will survey the Indian city around the clock to strengthen law and order, monitor traffic in congested areas and counter terrorist activities. Its tender document stipulates interested companies should include provision for training operatives, commissioning, customising and maintaining the drones, which must have at least three years' warranty.
Kolkata: Kolkata police is keen to acquire drones to strengthen law and order in the city. According to officials, the drones will be useful in congested areas to monitor traffic and also counter terrorist activities.

“We propose to use the drones to surveying city 24X7. It will give us a birds-eye view of the situation on the ground,” said an officer.

Currently, the force has two drones, which are used on special occasions to monitor the ground situation.

“The two drones we have are being used only on special occasions like Independence Day or Republic Day parade. The new fleet will help us monitor the situation daily,” the officer added.

In the past, Election Commission of India has used drones in areas infested with extremists on polling day to monitor the situation.

The police has floated a tender seeking companies that cannot only supply but also help in commissioning, customising, training and maintaining the drones. Furthermore, the flying machines must come with at least three years’ warranty.

“To use such a large number of drones, we need to develop and train several people on how to use it and also maintain it. The company should be capable in training the force,” the officer added.

However, many within the force believe that a more hands-off approach should be adopted and these “fancy” gadgets will be least helpful. “We needed to procure more advanced police gear and later buy such fancy stuff as we need people on the ground more,” said an officer unwilling to be named.

Others believe that installing computers on patrol vehicles would have been more useful and traffic offenders could have been booked instantly, and the number of violations could come down.