Panaji: Stating that it is now mandatory for police inspectors (PIs) and police sub-inspectors (PSIs) to use body cameras when traffic challans are issued, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said Goa is the first state in the country to make such a move.
The Chief Minister said that police officers not below the ranks of PI and PSI are authorised to issue traffic challans.
Sawant was speaking at a programme organised in the city to flag off key security and enforcement assets, which included a vehicle-mounted mobile jammer unit of Goa police. Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Kumar and other police officials were present on the occasion.
According to police officials, the use of body cameras while issuing challans to traffic violators will ensure transparency and maintain accountability.
Apart from the vehicle- mounted jammer unit, the other assets that were flagged off included trucks, heavy crane vehicles, motorcycles and 40 body-worn cameras for enforcement.
“These additions will significantly strengthen law enforcement capability, road safety and public security across Goa,” said Sawant.
The mobile signal jammer vehicle has been procured at a cost of around Rs 4.9 crore, police officials said. They said Goa usually receives a large number of VIPs for various national and international events held in the state and police were earlier forced to borrow a signal jammer vehicle from Maharashtra or Karnataka.
Officials said the advanced equipment is designed to neutralise communication threats and remote control improvised explosive devices, thereby ensuring safety of VIP movement in high-risk zones.
“So our security events will be self-reliant after this. Earlier, when we brought such (jammer) vehicles from Karnataka or Maharashtra, our policemen worked on them. This is the latest model. Police personnel have been trained to operate the vehicle,” said DGP Kumar.
