On October 20, the Ho Chi Minh City Police launched a Science and Technology Club and an Emergency Information Reception and Handling Team to improve force coordination and accelerate responses to incidents involving security and public order, fires, explosions, and accidents.
The two initiatives aim to promote scientific and technological research and applications in police operations while improving the reception, classification, and handling of reports received through the 113 and 114 emergency hotlines.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Senior Colonel Tran Hong Minh, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security, acknowledged the efforts of relevant units to overcome difficulties related to facilities, promptly complete equipment and working spaces, and transfer responsibility for handling reports received through the 114 hotline from the Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue Police Division to the Ho Chi Minh City police command and information center.
Senior Colonel Tran Hong Minh stressed that the launch of the two initiatives marked an important step toward implementing Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation. It also laid the groundwork for implementing Decision No. 1166 of the Prime Minister to integrate the 113, 114, and 115 emergency hotlines into a unified emergency information reception and handling center.
The Emergency Information Reception and Handling Team is tasked with receiving and classifying reports, coordinating relevant forces and units, and ensuring timely responses within their respective functions and authority.
Senior Colonel Tran Manh Ha, head of the Telecommunications, Information Technology and Cryptography Division of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security, said integrating the three emergency hotlines would help optimize information reception and handling procedures, strengthen rapid-response capabilities, shorten the critical time window for saving lives and protecting property, and maintain security and public order across the city.
Meanwhile, the Science and Technology Club serves as a platform to connect stakeholders and promote the development of software solutions and data automation to support command, operational management, and digital transformation within the police force.
At the Ho Chi Minh City police’s command center, officers conducted simulations of three scenarios: a knife-wielding suspect attacking another person before fleeing, a traffic accident, and a fire or explosion. Using digital maps and an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered security camera system, on-duty officers quickly identified the suspect’s direction of travel, selected suitable routes, and dispatched forces to respond to incidents and track down the suspect.
