RAWALPINDI: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera has sought a report on the functioning of ‘panic buttons’ installed in educational institutions across the province.

He directed the authorities concerned to ensure that the panic buttons are functional and, if not, activate all of them. The IGP sought the report on the status of the panic buttons by March 13.

The ‘panic button’ system was installed by a mobile phone service providing company at a cost of Rs25 million in Rawalpindi in 2014.

The educational institutions were streamlined/mapped and the system was installed on the mobile phones of the police and the administration officials of the educational institutions. In case of any emergency, when the panic button is pressed the police are alerted about it.

A senior police official, who had been associated with the installation of the system, told Dawn that the emergency system was installed in all educational institutions and subscriber identity modules (SIMs) were allocated to the station house officers, deputy superintendents of police and the emergency police service.

He said when the button is pressed in an emergency situation it enables the police officers concerned to see the location of the educational institution, its name, nearby buildings, shops and even the number of students and teachers.

In reply to a question, he said: “I am not sure if the panic button system is still active in Rawalpindi or not.”

In his directive issued on March 10 to all of the divisional police chiefs, district police officers and the city police officers, the IGP said he should be updated on the status of the panic buttons.

The Special Branch had already expressed concerns over the security lapses in educational institutions, especially those included in the category ‘A’ across Punjab.

The concerns were raised after a security audit of the educational institutions was carried out by the intelligence agency and a report sent to the home department in June 2016.

The report said none of the 475 educational institutions in the Rawalpindi division possessed a night vision CCTV system or was using scanners. Weapons with a majority of the security guards were found to be dysfunctional while the guards were also untrained to counter any terrorist attack, the report said.

After the terrorist attack on the APS Peshawar in 2014, the law enforcement agencies started taking measures to ensure the security of educational institutions in Punjab and the intelligence agency was directed to carry out a fresh security audit.

When a senior police officer was asked whether there had been any specific terror threat to educational institutions, he said the law enforcement agencies were taking all possible measures to protect the educational institutions.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2017