Digital surveillance

The initiative on the part of Sindh Police to opt for digitisation to improve the law and order situation, and to monitor crime, mobs and traffic through electronic surveillance is worth appreciating. Such a concept in today's modern urbanisation is known as 'safe cities', and is a highly recommended aspect in governance affairs. It not only helps police and other law-enforcement agencies keep a tab on unscrupulous elements, but also provides the necessary datafication to legislators for empirical studies in bettering the regulation of over-sized metropolises. Thus, the concept must walk the talk, and it is high time Karachi, one of the world's top 10 megacities, was minutely monitored in an earnest attempt to free it from street crimes and to improve its traffic and crowd management. The 'Aerial Surveillance Wing' proposed for the province will surely go a long way in effectively monitoring highways, traffic arteries, railway tracks and riverine areas. It will also be a valid check on hooligans, especially those out on a harassment spree in streets and congested localities. What is desired is devising foolproof SOPs that are not undermined by the mighty and affluent. Karachi already has a citizen-police liaison system, which has been quite instrumental in combating crimes, and there is a need to widen the scope of monitoring through modern gadgets to cover the whole country. Security has been a pivotal concern, especially because non-state actors remain at large. This calls for a coordinated policy structure to make use of technology, especially drones, and to enable the watchdog bodies to be better trained for untoward situations. The faux pas moments that so-called safe cities, especially Islamabad and Lahore, have witnessed in the form of terror bursts can only be avoided through better intelligence coordination and an astute responsive force in real time. Integrated Command, Control and Communication Centres (IC3) in all cities and towns are indispensable, as we live in an era of proxies and abettors deeply embedded in our midst.