Pramesh S Jain
Over the last four years,Bengaluru’s emergency response system has undergone a significant technological overhaul,with the city police introducing multiple upgrades to strengthen response time, accountability and citizen safety under the Namma 112 helpline handling over 9,45,642 emergency calls,and helping 2,92,280 calls from women in distress .
The project began in 2022 with the launch of the Bangalore Safe City Project,supported by the Union government’s Nirbhaya Fund.
Despite operating with limited technological infrastructure in the initial phase, the city’s emergency response teams handled 2,49,945 emergency calls, including 91,250 calls from women.
During this period,the consistent deployment of Hoysala patrol units,backed by a fleet of around 320 vehicles, helped build public confidence in emergency policing.
In 2023,Bengaluru became the first city in the country to integrate body-worn cameras with its Command-and-control workflow,enabling real-time visual access for control room personnel.
Every Hoysala patrol vehicle was also equipped with dashboard cameras, providing a comprehensive visual record of emergency responses.
Police officials said the dual recording systems improved transparency, officer safety and evidence collection.
That year,the system continued to function on Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines and handled 2,51,779 calls, including 98,550 from women,marking a transition phase before the introduction of upgraded 112 infrastructure.
Police said real-time visuals from body cameras enhanced situational awareness and decision-making during emergencies.
The year 2024 saw further citizen-centric upgrades. Distressed callers were provided SMS-based vehicle tracking links,allowing them to track the approaching Hoysala patrol vehicle in real time.
After resolution of incidents,callers received feedback messages and follow-up calls to rate police response.
According to police data,Bengaluru recorded 4,43,918 emergency calls in 2024,including 1,02,480 from women. Feedback showed 68% five-star ratings, indicating improved public satisfaction.
In a landmark move the same year,Bengaluru became the first city to integrate Emergency Call Boxes at Safety Islands directly with the Namma 112 helpline.
Police said 230 genuine emergency calls have been received through these facilities so far.Integration with the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) enabled city-wide real-time monitoring of emergencies.
Mid 2025 marked another major upgrade with the migration from PRI to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) technology,addressing issues such as call congestion and dropped connections.
The system also introduced number masking to protect caller privacy while maintaining internal traceability.
Towards the end of 2025,Ola and Uber integrations were enabled,allowing passengers to directly access emergency services during rides.
Police officials said further upgrades,including multilingual support and integration with government and private agencies,are in the pipeline to improve accessibility and response efficiency.
For the year 2025 total 112 CFS calls are 522742 and among them women callers are 116800.Also the total CFS have increased by around 77K which has resulted in reduction of Hurt cases by 9 % when comparing 2024 with 2025 Says Joint CP Admin,Kuldeep Kumar R Jain.
