Bahrain's police force has gone high-tech in the fight against crime by installing 3,000 CCTV cameras at key locations across the country, it has emerged.

They are located at the Bahrain International Airport, King Fahad Causeway, various malls, banks and hotels as well as various departments in the Interior Ministry and police stations.

The ministry's information systems and services are being showcased at a two-day exhibition that opened at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre (BIECC) yesterday.

The first Interior Ministry Information Technology Exhibition showcases 62 systems and electronic services that have been established and applied by 13 of the ministry's directorate.

They are being used to facilitate procedures and mechanisms either internally or for citizens and residents.

The IT systems enable the ministry to conduct crime analysis, track down offenders and respond to emergency situations among other activities, said officials.

The two-day exhibition, marking the 90th anniversary of Bahrain Police, is patronised by Deputy Premier and Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology chairman Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.

Shaikh Mohammed and Interior Minister Lieutenant General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa toured the stalls, which displayed various systems and projects aimed at spreading security awareness.

Shura Council chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh, ministers, ambassadors, governors and senior officials took part.

Lt-General Shaikh Rashid expressed gratitude to Shaikh Mohammed for patronising the ceremony, lauding his continuous endeavours to promote IT in the kingdom.

'Holding the exhibition is in line with His Majesty King Hamad's Royal Reform Project and Economic Vision 2030 aimed at achieving higher growth and boosting citizens' standard of living,' he said.

Ministry assistant under-secretary for planning and organisation Lieutenant Mansoor Al Hajeri said high-tech systems had revolutionised the way the ministry operated.

He said the ministry had a CCTV network with about 3,000 cameras spread across the country.

These include 195 at the Bahrain International Airport, 50 at King Fahad Causeway and between 50 and 100 in various malls, as well as others located in banks, hotels and other key areas.

The Interior Ministry also has more than 200 cameras in its various departments and police stations.

'From the control room we can respond when anything happens in these areas,' said Lt Al Hajeri on the sidelines of the opening.

'There will also be an alarm coming from the bank or hotel to our control room where we can see the incident.

'We have four cars which have CCTV that can record for two months and see up to 2.5km, we also have data, video and voice access, satellite and first aid facilities.

'We use these cars for VIP protection and to help the fire brigade as well as for public safety.

'We also have connectivity to GSM so we can send images to the control room.'

He said the ministry's various departments were connected through IT systems, such as data and telephone networks.

'We have 18 control rooms connected to this network and they include Internet, e-mail, criminal database, human resources, financial crime, Geographic Information System (GIS) applications such as maps and automatics vehicle location,' said Lt Al Hajeri.

'In terms of emergency, we are connected with the organisation so we are in control if anything happens.

'The telephone network we run has both voice and video so we can talk and see each other.

'Our helicopters and cars are able to send video and data to our control room.'

Bahrain is the second country in the GCC after Abu Dhabi to have geo-fencing technology which tracks the movement of boats operated by the General Directorate of Civil Defence and Coastguard, said Lt Al Hajeri.

'Geo-fencing tracks all our boats, we have started with our ministry boats and next year we will expand this to boats operated by companies,' he said.

'We also have radar and cameras to track all vessels in our waters.'

GIS project manager Captain Abdulla Al Khalifa said the ministry had a crime monitor analysis application that enabled it to identify trends, patterns and hotspots.

'If for example cars are being stolen, we can look for patterns, we can see if it is a one-off, or a series and if it is based on time of the day, day of the week and so on,' he said.

'We have been using this since 2007.'

The Police Media Directorate has received the ISO certificate in electronic media.

The centre transmits ministry, regional and international news around the clock in addition to using systems in the Public Relations Directorates that aim to spread public awareness through campaigns and activities.

'We look for news items related to security, we have a special video monitoring system when we observe certain channels and we follow newswires,' said Police Media Directorate police media centre head Ahmed Al Mannai.

'All of our information and documents are electronically archived.'

The exhibition is open to the public today from 9am to 1.30pm and 3.30pm to 7.30pm.-TradeArabia News Service