Andhra Pradesh to get its first smart police station

Police station does not have a lock up for the detainees and policemen are to wear navy blue trouser and light blue shirt while policewomen will wear light blue sari.

Amaravati, Feb 5: Andhra Pradesh's first Smart Police Station, having look and feel of a corporate-style office, equipped with a "custody" room and under watch of CCTV network, is set to start functioning.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate the State's first Smart Police Station at Nagarampalem in Guntur city in the capital region Amaravati tomorrow. The facility, in fact, doesn't look like a typical police station, thanks to plush exterior and interiors that leave one with a feeling of having walked into a corporate- style office.

There are no boundary walls to the Smart Police Station but the exterior has been beautifully landscaped while the facade is of glass. The fully air-conditioned station has a staff room, dormitory, mini control room, a reception chamber and individual enclosures for the Station House Officer and three Sub-Inspectors.

Staff manning the station will not wear the usual khaki uniform and instead sport a navy blue trouser and a light blue shirt. While women Constables have a light blue sari for uniform, the lady receptionist will additionally sport a navy blue blazer. Interestingly, the station does not have a "lock-up" for detainees.

Instead, a "custody" room with a double bed has been readied. The facility, built in two months at a cost of Rs 91 lakh, is one of the two model Smart Police Stations constructed in Guntur as a pilot project. Andhra Police administration has drawn up plans to build another 100 Smart Police Stations across the state.

"The Smart Police Stations will be the pride of police," Director General of Police (in-charge) Nanduri Sambasiva Rao told PTI. "Pride to policemen and satisfaction to public is the main aim behind the Smart Police Stations. Simplicity is the hallmark," he said. Closed circuit television cameras have been installed in and around the station for closer surveillance of staff behaviour and movement of visitors.

PTI