The City of Tshwane and the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) have launched the Namola user app, officially announced by Tshwane executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa during his State of the Capital Address.
Namola is a smartphone application that significantly improves police dispatch times and the communication between officers, the control room and citizens.
This app allows citizens with the City of Tshwane to send an alert with their GPS co-ordinates directly to nearby TMPD officers. The first available officer is then directed to the citizen’s location. Dispatch times take about 13 seconds which is an 11 times improvement on current response times. If a user is outside of the Tshwane coverage or if no vehicles are available, the Namola app gives citizens the ability to dial 10111.
Namola creates a unique communication link between control rooms, officers and citizens. TMPD control room operators are now able to track all vehicles, monitor and intervene on active alerts as well as send images and messages to the officers on the ground.
When a citizen sends an alert and an officer accepts, the user is able to send messages directly to the officer and the control room. If necessary, the officer is able to phone the user directly from the vehicle.
Namola has been launched with the TMPD as a starting point. The intention is to expand Namola to other security and policing services to enable collaborative alignment between crime-fighting institutions and resources.
Since launching the app has already logged more than 1 000 downloads and is increasing steadily.
The Namola system was developed by Happimo NPC in partnership with TMPD.
“Namola will enable residents to immediately share their GPS co-ordinates of crimes in progress with our Tshwane Metro Police Department and is envisaged to reduce response times by 14 times,” says Ramokgopa.