Delhi Police to Get New, Better Gear

NEW DELHI - July 29, 2015 - PRLog -- According to an item published in the latest issue of Indian Military Review the capital’s police will have better bullet-proof jackets and uniforms. The bulletproof jacket, which is in use currently, weighs around 11 kgs and cause problems for the cops. Police personnel were often reluctant to wear the existing bullet-resistant jackets owing to its heavy weight. The material used in the existing bulletproof jacket not only increases its weight but also make it not so user-friendly for policemen who work for long hours.

Giving details, the new issue of Indian Military Review, published from New Delhi said that these jackets will, however, soon be replaced with an advanced and lighter version of bullet-resistant vests. The new ballistic vest will come in three categories - for top rank officers, for officers engaged in patrolling and law and order duty, and commandos handling riots and terror attacks.

The average weight of the new bulletproof vest, being designed for senior officers and constabulary, will be between 2.5kg and 3kg. Similarly, bullet-resistant jackets for commandos will not exceed 5kg and the jacket will have an additional protective gear for shielding the groin.

The Special Commissioner of Police (Provision and Logistics) has been made in-charge for finalizing the process of procuring modified lightweight bulletproof jackets for Delhi police personnel. Several international as well as Indian companies have approached the provision and logistics department with their products.

Once the product and its manufacturing company are decided, the tendering process will be started. While the average cost of the existing bulletproof jacket is between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000, the price might go up to around Rs 1 lakh, considering the requirement of protection gears in the jackets.

Delhi police are also set to get a new uniform and caps, and weapons that they carry while patrolling the city.

The current police uniforms are made of not so user-friendly terrycotton cloth material. Plans are afoot now to replace this with a special fabric (khadi polyvastra) for more comfort. New lighter and cotton-made waterproof caps will also be introduced in place of the old woolen beret caps that caused discomfort to the constabulary, who do most of the leg work.

Apart from uniform, caps and bulletproof jackets, the city police are already in the process of replacing outdated weapons with advanced armaments.

Riot Gear

An increase of around 58 per cent in rioting cases in 2014 over the last has prompted Delhi Police to look at non-lethal devices called Pepperball guns to control mobs and crowds.

These devices have been used to very good effect by security forces during recent riots in Belgium and Hong Kong, and are part of the standard issue for riot control in the US and most European countries.

A Pepperball projectile, also called a pepperspray ball, is a projectile fired from a launcher that looks quite like a modern firearm.

The projectile is a payload of a powdered chemical that disperses on impact and causes severe eye and nose irritation for a few minutes, thus forcing disassembly in mob or crowd situations.

Delhi has seen several incidents of rioting and public disturbance after 2012, and the police has had to rely on the old lathi-teargas method.

Water cannon has been used on some occasions, but the device has earned the force the ire of the National Human Rights Commission.

Traffic & Communications

Government of India has approved Rs. 275.08 crore for the Plan Scheme for Modernisation of Traffic and Communication Network of Delhi Police during the 12th Five Year Plan. Some funds have already been spent.

A Cyber Highway has been established in 243 locations during the 11th Five Year Plan at a cost of around Rs.24 crore through MTNL as per the agreement. Delhi Police has reported that the delay in commissioning was due to not getting permission for digging and for laying Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) from the civic agencies in time due to the Commonwealth Games in 2010.  The Cyber Highway scheme continues in the 12th Five Year Plan for carrying out necessary up-gradation and expansion. An amount of Rs. 46.30 crore (out of Rs.275.08 crore referred above) has been allocated for developing Traffic & Communication Network in NCR/Mega Cities and Model Traffic System.

A non-plan scheme ‘Police Modernization Scheme for UTs’ was implemented from 2006-07 to 2012-13 and the scheme expired on 31st March, 2013.  The total amount allocated and released/ utilized under the scheme by Delhi Police during the years 2011-12 and 2012-was is as under :-

Year          Budget Allocatioon

2011-12          Rs 102.40 crore

2012-13          Rs 100 crore

When the extension of the scheme was processed, on the advice of Ministry of Finance, building infrastructure had been excluded from PMSUT and ‘Safe City Project’ has been included for all the UTs.  One of the components of the ‘Safe City Project’ for Delhi is “Intelligent Traffic System”.

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