Mardan Police Launches AI-Powered Technologies For Better Services

Atif Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Science Technology & Information Technology, Food, Sports and Youth Affairs launched Mardan’s AI-based Pilot Safe City Project as well as the Paperless File Management System in the deputy commissioner’s (DC’s) office on Thursday. Under the safe city project, the Mardan Police will get 75 CCTV cameras on 21 kilometers long three routes would be installed for monitoring and security purposes in Mardan city. The project would be completed with an estimated cost of Rs8 million.

The minister was told that the system would be linked with police control, which would help in the identification of suspects, and action against them would be taken by the police. The provincial minister while appreciating the system said that this would help reduce crimes of different natures and collection of evidence against culprits. Later, the minister also inaugurated the file management system at the office of Deputy Commissioner Mardan.

Minister Atif Khan said the project is in line with the Digital Pakistan vision that aims to develop and enhance security in cities, using advanced technology to improve quality of life, boost the efficiency of city operations and services, and strengthen competitiveness, all in an effort to meet the security concerns of current and future generations. He said;

“Through both the Safe City Mardan Project and the Paperless File Management System, we are building a future for Mardan that is safe and smart – one that improves the quality of life for our communities, and saves time, energy, and resources in the process,”

Both projects were created in collaboration with the KP IT Board, District Police Office Mardan, DC Office Mardan, and the National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) University of Engineering and Technology. The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Safe City Mardan Project includes a holistic approach to achieving a safe city by deploying surveillance systems at critical junctions in a smart and safe way. The system is supported by facial recognition and is backed by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which will enable the system to detect weapons, mobs, boundary breaches, and camera tampering.

A handout said that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Safe City Mardan Project includes a holistic approach to achieving a safe city by deploying surveillance systems at critical junctions in a way that is smart as well as safe.

The system is supported by facial recognition capability and is backed by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which will enable the system to detect weapons, mobs, boundary breaches, and camera tampering. Separately, to ensure that the public follows SOPs during disease outbreaks, the system can also detect who is wearing face masks and that appropriate social distancing protocols are being followed.

One of the more salient features of the project is that the AI-backed systems will significantly reduce human involvement in monitoring live events captured on CCTV cameras, eliminating room for human error. Frequently, these cameras accumulate event data of no significant value; with AI-based technology, the focus is brought to each targeted event and can immediately alert the relevant authorities.

This Paperless File Management System ensures the timely management of tasks and empowers the DCs to keep track of the workflow and counter any chances of data fudging. With the system in place, DCs can also easily access files and processes outside of the office, and a KP-FMS mobile app enables officers to review files, mark them, check the status, and even create files.

With AI-based technology, the focus is brought to each targeted event and can immediately alert the relevant authorities. Separately, in a bid to achieve both efficiency and transparency for the people of KP, the Paperless File Management System will automate the file tracking system of the DC’s office to streamline the internal work and document flow between the Commissioners’ offices to the DC’s, and then subsequently to the teams involved in supporting the tasks.

As the first to implement such a system, the DC’s office in Mardan is paving the path forward on a solution that will be expanded to all DC offices and other Mardan Police departments in the future.