Selfie sticks, thermal scanner headgear: Cops vs Covid

A magnifying glass attached to a selfie stick that can help read documents from a safe distance to headgear that can scan the temperature of multiple people from 10 metres way, Delhi Police are using innovative ways to keep its personnel from contracting Covid-19, the viral disease that has killed one policeman and infected at least 110 others in the Capital.

The police are also using hands-free water taps, foot-operated soap dispensers and automatic temperature scanners -some of which are being sourced from private firms while some others being put together by the police personnel themselves.

The police force has been playing a critical part in enforcing the national lockdown norms, manning entries in containment zones, helping transport people and general patients and also maintaining law and order, which leaves them vulnerable to contracting Covid-19.

Last month, the Chandni Mahal police station had to be sealed after eight police personnel deployed there had tested positive. Later, nine personnel from the Sultanpuri police station in outer Delhi tested positive. The virus spared officers of no rank: On Tuesday, an IPS officer and his two staffers tested positive.

Senior police officers said while some of these devices are already employed by the personnel on the ground, trials continue on some others. The idea is to minimise contact and stay safe, the officer said.

SELFIE STICK

The first of these improvisions is a selfie stick that has been turned into a “document-checking equipment”. “We fixed a magnifying glass at the end of the stick so that the policemen at pickets can read documents presented by motorists without having to approach the person or touch the documents. We attached an LED light to make it handy even at night,” said Atul Kumar Thakur, deputy commissioner of police (South).

The improvisation was made by Rahul Gupta, a probationary Indian Police Service officer and an alumni of IIT Delhi. After top police officers inspected the operation of the device, about 50 such equipments were readied and distributed to other police districts, the South DCP said.

SCANNER HEADGEAR

In West Delhi, the police partnered with a private firm to prepare headgear, similar to a helmet, on which a thermal scanner has been fitted which, the officers claim, can measure the temperatures of multiple people at a time. “This device can scan the temperatures from as far as 10 metres, negating the need for the police to approach the public. We have conducted a trial run at a picket in Rajouri Garden. If successful, it can be deployed at supermarkets, mandis and hospitals,” said Deepak Purohit, DCP (West). Sagar Naugriya, the founder of Indian Robotics Solutions, which has developed the headgear, said it could scan the temperatures of multiple people at once.

EXPERTS NOT IMPRESSED

Jugal Kishore, director and professor of community medicine at Safdarajang Hospital, said the accuracy of the data provided by the headgear should be put to stringent tests before pressing it in service. He said the headgear will also factor in the temperature of the local environment and the readings has to be precise. “Similar devices used at hospitals haven’t been really effective,” Kishore said.

Prashant Pillai, co-founder of the robotic firm, agreed with the doctor. He said that considering this factor, the mean temperature of a group of people being scanned will be taken first.

TOUCH-FREE SOAP

The police in Sangam Vihar subdivision have devised a simple system by which anyone visiting the police station can use their feet to press a spring below a water tank to turn on the tap, and then a similar spring on another side to dispense liquid soap.