Women passengers, especially those travelling alone at night, can now share their live location on WhatsApp with the police to ensure their safety in Haryana and Gurgaon.
The Haryana police has introduced the new real-time tracking feature on WhatsApp after Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur, at a meeting in Panchkula, reviewed Gurgaon police’s plan to roll out a trip monitoring system for women. The new initiative is part of Haryana Police’s Emergency Response Support System.
To register, women can call ‘112’ and share their travel details, including name, mobile number, departure and arrival locations and expected travel times. The Haryana dial ‘112’ team will then track the woman’s location and stay in contact with her until she reaches her destination. Women will also have the option to stay on a call with cops until they reach their destination, a senior police officer said.
Additionally, users can activate a panic call by pressing the power button on their phone three times quickly or long-press ‘5’ or ‘9’ key on a feature phone. During the meeting, it was proposed that women can call Haryana ‘112’ to share their travel details with the communication officer, who then provides a WhatsApp number for sharing their location. Haryana ‘112’ monitors the journey from start to finish, ensuring that women, especially those traveling alone or at night, feel secure.
During the journey, the team regularly checks in to ensure no security concerns arise, and if a woman feels unsafe, immediate police assistance is provided, an official release stated.
In Gurgaon, said DCP headquarters Arpit Jain, the nearest police Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) is dispatched to assist when a call is made to ‘112’. An ERV typically arrives within 15-20 minutes, he said, adding the average response time of Gurgaon Police ERVs is 7 minutes. The force currently has 75 active police ERVs.
The trip monitoring service was added to Dial ‘112’ to ensure women’s safety, the officer also said. “Dial 112 and ask the personnel on the call to monitor your trip. You will then receive an SMS with a link to a form that you need to fill out. Open the form provided in the SMS and enter the required details of your journey. Once you complete the form, you will receive another SMS confirming your successful registration for the trip monitoring service,” the officer said.
“During your journey, you will receive several calls from the 112 control room to ensure that you are safe and to check if you need any assistance until you reach your destination,” the DCP said. Once you have arrived at your destination, you will receive a call to confirm your safe arrival, and upon your response, the trip monitoring service will be terminated, he added, explaining the steps to use the interface.
