Ethiopia experimenting with smart police stations with no officers
Earlier this year, Ethiopia opened Africa’s first smart police station, which operates without any officers on site.
The bizarre security location was unveiled in February by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, as part of the country’s Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda. The country has remained firm in its commitment to becoming a leader in digital governance.
The location, which operates around the clock, aims to modernise how citizens interact with law enforcement, replacing human precincts with a technology-driven service model. This idea has found much success in other areas, like Dubai and Beijing.
The government chose to locate the station in Addis Ababa’s Bole district, one of the capital’s fastest-growing commercial areas.
Citizens can walk in at any time and can easily follow instructions displayed on the large screens. They have the option to report a crime, file a complaint, document a traffic accident, or request assistance for lost documents.
The site has so far been running for around four months; an Ethiopian resident on Reddit has suggested that the smart office is “highly efficient”.
In their eyes, the location can “connect you instantly to a live officer at a central command center that monitors city-wide cameras. They immediately, they assign your case to the nearest station. Those stations have a dedicated fleet of patrol cars on standby whose sole job is rapid intervention, they can be on the scene in minutes.”
In support of the endeavour, Cdr Demissie Yilma from Ethiopia’s Police technology expansion department shared proudly, as per the BBC, that “the future police service should be near the citizens”.
“If there is a problem, officers respond immediately and patrol the area mentioned by the reporter,” Demissie added.
The new take on law enforcement has not come without some backlash, as senior software engineer in Addis Ababa, Birhan Nega Cheru, noted that there is a danger that people “who are not digitally literate can easily be scammed”.
He added, “Urban users, younger people, businesses, those with smartphones and skills, benefit most.”