Goodbye officer, hello touchscreen – a vision for policing in Ethiopia

ETHIOPIA: Computer tablet screens glow inside a row of partitioned booths at this new-style Ethiopian police station.

There is no commotion. There is no front desk, no bench of anxiously waiting civilians, no officer calling out names.

This pilot project of what is being called a “smart” – or unmanned – police station in the Bole district of the capital, Addis Ababa, is the latest chapter in Ethiopia’s bid to catch up with the digital revolution.

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A large monitor on the wall cycles through welcome messages as well as images of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

But at the moment there are uniformed officers standing by to demonstrate how the system works – it makes the place feels more like a tech showroom.

Recently opened, the staff “are here to help people get used to it”, the police’s head of technology expansion department Cdr Demissie Yilma tells the BBC.