Punjab Police is preparing to roll out a fleet of artificially intelligent patrol vans, branded as “Police Eye,” designed to modernise traffic enforcement and public safety monitoring across the province. The initiative marks one of the more concrete steps taken by a provincial law enforcement body in Pakistan toward integrating advanced surveillance and machine-learning tools into day-to-day policing operations, moving beyond fixed urban camera networks to mobile, real-time intelligence gathering on the road.
The Police Eye vans will be fitted with high-resolution 360-degree cameras capable of scanning surrounding traffic continuously, including while the vehicles are in motion. Using artificial intelligence-based recognition systems, the vans will be able to detect altered or counterfeit number plates in real time and instantly alert officers to vehicles associated with unpaid electronic challans. The system will also assist in identifying overloaded commercial vehicles, which contribute significantly to road deterioration and pose safety risks to other road users, giving enforcement authorities a tool to act on such violations without requiring manual inspection at checkpoints.
Beyond traffic management, the vans will be integrated with centralised law enforcement databases, enabling automated cross-referencing of number plates and facial recognition data to support the tracking of stolen vehicles and individuals flagged in police records. Officials have described the initiative as part of a wider effort to bring digital tools into mainstream policing, building on the existing urban surveillance infrastructure and command-and-control systems that have already been established in cities like Lahore. The aim, as stated by authorities, is to improve compliance with traffic laws while also expanding the real-time response capabilities of police deployed on roads.
The first phase of deployment will cover major urban centres including Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, with a plan to progressively extend coverage to other districts across Punjab in subsequent stages. No specific timeline has been disclosed for the province-wide rollout, but the phased approach suggests the authorities intend to evaluate operational performance in high-density cities before scaling up. If the technology performs as intended, Punjab Police Eye could set a precedent for similar deployments in other provinces, as Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies look increasingly toward technology-led solutions to address urban crime and traffic management challenges.
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