CHENNAI: In the wake of the 2010-11 CAG report’s indictment of the functioning of the electronic beat system in the city, Greater Chennai Police are vigorously working towards implementation of ‘Radio Frequency Identification Technology’ to track patrolling operations not only in the city but also in the suburban areas.According to the CAG report, the police department had procured equipment worth `1.27 crore between 2005-08 to replace the existing manual beat system. As of March 2010, however, the equipment was yet to be installed in police stations and remained idle at the DGP’s office. “That is the reason why we are reactivating the entire electronic beat system in the city and suburbs,” Police Commissioner J K Tripathy told Express on Thursday. “We are in the process of distributing the equipment to all police districts, including those in suburban areas,” he said.Under the erstwhile, bifurcated regime, police stations in the suburban areas did not have the eBeat system, in which a card is fed with particulars of the policeman on beat, including his number, name, time and place. The policeman swipes the card in the devices installed at important places falling under their beat. The technology-based system is aimed at keeping track of the patrol cops to ensure that they were on their job and not sitting idle in police stations and making false entries in the register.The new system is set to take off in Meenambakkam police limits on November 14. About 25 strategic places have been identified for installation of the electronic devices under their jurisdiction, a police officer told Express. “While 15 devices are already in place, the remaining will be installed within two days,” he said.The officer said the devices had been installed near residential areas, petrol stations, banks and railway stations, among other places. He identified Shanthi petrol bunk near Palavanthangal, where three banks - ICICI Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI - had their ATM centres, Palavanthangal subway, which was “dark and lonely during the night”, Teachers Colony, NAD quarters, Indian Airlines quarters, where “two or three break-ins were reported recently” as some areas where the patrol men, who will be on duty between 9 pm and 7 am, will swipe their cards to register their presence there. On the frequency of the swiping, the officer said while it would depend on the area, it could be one hour on an average.
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