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In a significant step towards digitising public safety and responsive law enforcement, the Rourkela Police on Saturday launched the ‘E-Beat’ Patrolling Pilot Project, an initiative aimed at integrating technology with traditional beat policing to ensure accountability, efficiency, and citizen trust.
In a press release on X, Rourkela Police stated that the project was formally inaugurated by Brijesh Kumar Rai, DIG (Western Range), in the presence of Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani and senior officers.
Tech-Driven Policing for a Rapidly Urbanising City
Designed to tackle the challenges of a rapidly growing urban landscape, the E-Beat system will initially cover 100 patrol beats across 12 police stations in Rourkela. More than 600 sensitive locations, including ATMs, markets, parks, places of worship, and residences of older adults, have been mapped into the system, said the release.
Notably, each location is geo-tagged, and beat officers will now log their visits via a mobile app. The application features real-time location tracking, mobile attendance, digital observation records, and automated alerts for missed or incomplete patrols.
Reinforcing Accountability and Visibility
The Smart E-Beat initiative aligns with the Odisha Police’s broader mission of SMART policing, an acronym for Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Tech-savvy and Trained, as outlined by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Further, the project’s roadmap includes the integration of crime heat maps, geo-tagging of known criminals, and real-time data-driven patrol planning. The future dashboard will also provide supervisory insights for district-level coordination, making Rourkela a model for smart policing initiatives across Odisha.
The pilot project in Rourkela is expected to be expanded to other urban centres in Odisha once initial assessments are completed.
