• Photos of those who violate the mask mandate or the driving laws are later removed.
• Commissioner CV Anand attributes the rapid decline in crime to technology.
• Through drones and AI-enhanced CCTV cameras, the government is encouraging smart police.

In order to increase security, authorities hastily installed 5,000 CCTV cameras in Hyderabad, a city in south-central India, after two Islamist bombs there in 2013. Currently, the metropolis and its environs are home to over 700,000.

The shiny new Command and Control Center in the affluent Banjara Hills neighbourhood is the most apparent indication of the city's transformation into a hub of monitoring. The 20-story structure replaces a campus where cops have fast access to 24-hour, real-time CCTV and cell phone tower data that geolocates reported crimes. 

The technology may be used to activate any nearby cameras, bring up a database of criminal mugshots, and search CCTV footage for nearby known offenders using facial recognition software using photos and mugshots. Earlier this year, the Associated Press was granted exclusive access to the activities as part of an investigation into the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools by law enforcement worldwide. 

The new command centre, opened in August, encourages technology use across all government agencies, not just the police, according to Police Commissioner C V Anand. According to Mahender Reddy, director general of the Telangana State Police, it cost $75 million (about Rs. 620 crore).
In recent years, facial recognition and artificial intelligence have proliferated in India, where they are now essential law enforcement tools for observing large gatherings. Technology isn't just being used by police to solve homicides and apprehend armed robbers. 

Hyderabad was one of the first municipal police agencies in India to issue traffic fines and capture images of persons who disobeyed mask laws using a smartphone application. In order to check images against a criminal database, officers can use employ facial recognition software.

 On their smartphones and tablets, police personnel have access to the TSCOP software, which has facial recognition scanning capabilities. Nearly all of the city's police officers can access a variety of emergency and governmental services thanks to the app. Anand claimed that images of those who violate the mask mandate and traffic laws are only retained long enough to ensure that they won't be required in court before being deleted.