Lets admit it, some of Indian Police’s way to handle things may not lead to the right clues and evidences and if a system can be implemented to get rid of this limitation, then that’s exactly what Wipro is doing for Indian Police.
The following in an except from TOI dated 16th Jan 2011:
The good news is that a complete overhaul is finally on the cards. Path-breaking reform, due to take off this year, could change the very DNA of the Indian policeman, transporting each from the 19th century to today. The ambitious project, to be rolled out across India, would result in digital filing of all FIRs and complaints; each would be typed into a national computer network. Insiders believe this would significantly improve the way police stations operate. Computerized complaints would become open to scrutiny, by complainants and senior officers. But would digitization of the interface between police and public make the state's law-enforcement wing cleaner and efficient?
Perhaps, but only if the entire revamp process were allowed to reach completion. The digitization of FIRs and all complaints is just the more public face of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), a massive modernization drive meant to take Indian police into the IT era. The minister of state for home affairs Ajay Maken recently told the Lok Sabha that the project "aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of policing at police station level through adoption of principles of e-governance." It would include "creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system around 'investigation of crime and detection of criminals'," he added.
Could the digitization process do more? Might it revolutionize the policeman, not just policing? Specific aptitude and language skills are undoubtedly needed to work a computer network, so it's a fair bet tomorrow's Indian cop will be an IT-savvy creature. But a senior IPS officer cautions against great expectations. "We cannot expect sweeping change — only a few constables would be doing the digitization functions in each station. But as we have seen with all other departments where computerization has brought about some degree of refinement we can expect some changes here too". The officer adds that it is difficult to "ignore the aspirational value of computers and networks" and it is reasonable to assume that policemen left out of the digitization drive would be keen to acquire the IT skills required to grow within the organization.
The new system will be implemented by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). NCRB director general N K Tripathi says the plans are staggering in scope and likely impact and "will bring tremendous reforms in totality, both beneficial to the police personnel and the system, not to mention benefits to the general public". He lists immediate benefits of a networked, net-savvy police force: "People will have better options for lodging complaints and will have a more transparent law and order machinery. FIRs can be lodged immediately on computer, so there would be no delay."
It is undeniable that CCTNS has enormous potential. It aims to create a computerized database for police any and everywhere in India. The network, planned as a secure pan-India structure, is expected to make intra-state and inter-state investigations more efficient and quick. Today, police forces in disparate states have no common platform to interact in real time. The result is fleeing criminals can move across state borders without expecting to be stopped. Tripathi says that may be yesterday. "That may not be so easy once the network becomes operational. The network would allow sharing of fingerprints and photographs. So two police stations at the extreme ends of the country would be able to co-operate real time in investigation," he says.
So how good is the new police 'brain'? IT major Wipro is in the final stages of designing the software. Wipro sent its techies to police stations around the country to understand the language and style of police records and how to file an FIR. Tripathi says this will be the basis of the software's most basic tools, even as the NCRB continues "final consultations with BSNL for providing connectivity to 20,000 sites around the country." These sites include 14,000 police stations and more than 6,000 senior police officers in 28 states and seven Union Territories.
The NCRP chief claims that Indian police are being readied and "capacity building by training has started in almost all states at district levels". A select group of inspectors and constables are also being trained but at least one senior officer admits no one is unaware that "the biggest challenge would be break the mindset of our policemen".
Months before its rollout, what's not to like about the new, improved, double-strength Indian police service?
Tripathi points out that "all stations would be connected and will have access to state and central servers", ensuring that crime investigation won't be bounded by states. The network would have an online digital fingerprints database. Tripathi says "Better detection itself is a surety for prevention". The network would also contribute to improving the police interface with other agencies. For example, the passport division could complete the police verification process quicker and issue travel documents in record time. "We are looking at it as a scalable model, so that in the future you can integrate intelligent transport system and real time traffic management etc into the network," says Tripathi.
It stands to reason that the project would boost efforts to reform the police force. "It will contribute in various ways to our efforts for police reforms. To begin with it will eliminate manual keeping of records and the burden on the police station will be reduced. At the same time records will be better maintained," argues Tripathi. "It will lead to better utilization of police forces. People will not be bogged down by maintenance of records."
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