Hollywood-style police choppers soon in city skies

Hollywood-style police choppers soon in city skies

Eye in the sky: Bangalore readies to Chidambaram's plan of using helicopters for policing like New York and London

DNA Correspondent. Bangalore

Yes, exactly like those Hollywood movies, city police is gearing up to having an eye in the sky.
Union Home Ministry has taken up a mega project to modernise police forces of country's metro cities. One of the key proposals is to provide these cities with dedicated helicopters like in New York and London. "There are plans to provide helicopters for the mega city policing. So when mega city policing project is complete, these cities will have helicopters," P Chidambaram told journalists.
Chidambaram said while the details of the project are still being worked out, this upgrade is need of the hour to keep the security of Indian cities at par with the world: "That is the way policing is done in big cities across the world."
Karnataka Director General of Police, Ajai Kumar Singh told DNA that a proposal under the modernisation strategy was already sent to Centre and state police expected an overhaul in police mobility with introduction of helicopters.
State police has plans not only to use these helicopters in Bangalore but also send them on missions across state. "It will certainly be a faster mode to ferry the specialised troupes to remote areas. We can use them in all kinds of emergencies. Counter extremists and Maoists operations will also get a shot in the arm," said Singh. But don't expect these helicopters to hover around the city all the times. They will be used only under special circumstances. "Bangalore's total area is restricted to 1200 sq. kms. For day-to-day needs road transportation is good," a top official working on the modernisation proposal said. Police Commissioner Shankar M Bidari also welcomed the initiative by Union government, "We are already keeping pace with installing surveillance cameras in public places and important business centres of the city. This new initiative is yet another boost to our plans," he said. But he was categorical in reconfirming the fact that these helicopters will not be used to manage law and order everyday."
Bidari feels this initiative will also help in strengthening the coastal security. "There was a need to have a watch over the suspicious movement of vessels in the coastal waters of the state. With helicopters we can cover as far as 20 nautical miles in the sea, he added.