India: Improving Police Response Time With GPS

The safety of women in India moved to the forefront two years ago after a 23-year-old female paramedic student was gang raped on a New Delhi bus. Just five months ago, their government approved an addition to the budget earmarked for the safety of women, their response to an unforgivable act that led to the death of that female student, and a way to strengthen laws protecting women’s safety.

CC Image courtesy of Harini Calamur via Flickr

Part of the plan, proposed by acting chief secretary Sajal Chakraborty and transportation commissioner Manoj Kumar: all mass transit vehicles all across the state must install GPS devices within the next two months. Beyond that point, anyone wishing to obtain a road permit for their mass transit vehicle must install a GPS tracking device. How will these devices help protect women? Let’s take a look at the case, and how this technology might have saved her life.

The Brutal Incident

The victim was leaving an evening showing of the movie Life of Pi with a male friend when four men lured them onto their private bus, inviting them to ride around the city with them. They agreed, and upon entering the bus, the four men beat the male friend to incapacitate them. They then pinned the woman down and each of the four men took turns raping her themselves, and with a metal rod, which left her with such horrific injuries, she later died in a Singapore hospital.

The incident was highly publicized, and when the four men were brought to court to face murder charges, they were sentenced to death, ordered to the gallows. Judge Yogesh Khanna said, in his decision, that the attack “shocked the collective conscience” of India. “In these times, when crime against women is on the rise, the courts cannot turn a blind eye towards such gruesome crimes.”

Because they were sentenced to death the order moves up to India’s High Court, where the men will appeal. Since 2004, only two people have been put to death, both terrorists. Some people there believe that the judge only sentenced them to death due to political pressure. However, it signifies the winds of change are moving in.

The Way It Is

Women are still stuck in their traditional role, which is to serve men. In fact, when they head out to town, they are bombarded by lewd comments and are even groped by complete strangers, called “eve-teasing,” as they walk about. Women there typically don’t go out in the evening or at night unless they are accompanied by a male companion to keep them safe. In this student’s case, even that didn’t keep her safe.

Protester Satvinder Kaur said, “Too often the pressure is on the girls to stay safe. But parents need to take responsibility for their sons. The culture will only change when mother stop their sons from going out late at night, when they make it clear they will not stand behind them if they do something like this.” She believes the ruling sent standing behind them.”

How GPS Will Help

The government approved a proposal regarding GPS devices and video recording for 32 cities that have a population over one million after recommendations of a committee set up to make recommendations regarding the safety of women, a response to the rape. This proposal includes setting up GPS tracking for the entire nation, placing command centers in each state to oversee data collection.

The goal – have each and every passenger vehicle linked up to both these command centers and more local control rooms, allowing police to find the scene of a crime immediately. If someone is in trouble, they simply press an emergency button which triggers data being sent to the local authorities including the victim’s GPS location data and which mass transit vehicle they are riding in. The nearest patrol car will receive this location data as well, allowing them to respond as quickly as possible. The addition of the cameras allows the control center to view pictures of the incident as it unfolds, showing them the exact nature of the emergency.

Getting the Job Done

The state transport secretary met with various officials recently, discussing the best way to implement the system. Department of Transportation records show 30 lakh (3 million) vehicles registered in Jharkhand through last year. About 25 percent of those are auto-rickshaws or buses. Acting chief secretary said, “We have been trying to launch an integrated tracking system for quite some time.

After the Delhi gang rape, it has become mandatory for all states to ensure safety of women on public transport.” A notification will be sent out to all owners of mass transit vehicles, and they will need to install the GPS tracking devices as soon as possible. In talks with the bus and auto associations, things look promising – they appear to be on board with the plan, and compliance shouldn’t be an issue. They hope to have everything worked out and the mandate in place in two months.

India: Improving Police Response Time With GPS