IPS Gaurav Rai: Building trust through Sports, supporting investigations with AI

From village sports programmes to an AI-powered CCTV analytics platform, Gaurav Rai a 2019 batch IPS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre focused on building stronger community connect while making investigations more technology driven as SP Dantewada. Rai has now been transferred as SP, Balodabazar-Bhatapara.

Recognising the changing needs of people in a district long affected by Left Wing Extremism, the first priority was to strengthen trust between the police and local communities and increase outreach as much as possible. Speaking about his unique outreach medium, “Our medium is through sports. We organise sports events in villages so that we can get the youth engaged. Afterwards, we organise awareness programmes on the new criminal laws, cybercrimes, traffic safety and various other public issues.” Police teams attached to different police stations regularly organise sports events in villages to engage. Additionally, continuous monitoring is carried out to ensure that people entitled to various government benefits receive them, making sure that no eligible beneficiary is left out.

Another key project of Rai is developing an AI powered video analytics system aimed at improving investigations. The software is designed to analyse hours of CCTV footage within minutes, significantly reducing the time and manpower required for manual review.

It also supports target-based searches, enabling investigators to search for a particular suspect or vehicle across multiple CCTV feeds. For instance, if police are looking for a suspect wearing a red T-shirt or tracing a specific vehicle, the system can identify relevant footage much faster than conventional methods. The software is being created at zero cost and currently is in the testing phase. “Instead of officers spending hours watching CCTV footage, the system analyses the videos within minutes.” he shared.