West Zone police enhance surveillance for senior citizens

COIMBATORE: The West Zone police have identified 4,000 senior citizens residing in isolated houses and in farms to enhance surveillance and ensure their safety under the ‘smart cop’ project.

Inaugurating a modernised control room set up at a cost of Rs 50 lakhs in Sulur police station near Coimbatore on Tuesday, West Zone IG K Bhavaneeswari said police personnel will take up frequent patrols and check on senior citizens based on their gathered information. “Also, the contact number of patrolling cops and respective station numbers were fed in the mobile phones of senior citizens with speed dialing option. Even if they come across any suspicious movement of people then they are asked to inform the police,” she said.

The new safety initiative for senior citizens has been rolled out across the West Zone in Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Namakkal.

Further, the IG said 500 CCTV’s, which were fixed newly in arterial road junctions, near colleges, schools, hospitals and other prominent areas in Sulur area, have been linked to the control room and are monitored by police.

With around 68 schools, 12 colleges and over 600 industrial units employing a large number of migrant workers, it has become quintessential for police to enhance surveillance to prevent crimes.

The cost of 500 cameras, fixed in around 100 spots in Sulur locality, was borne through CSR funds from private firms.