Central database to help cops tackle crime better

With over 80 per cent of the networking of the nationwide Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) being completed in the State, the Karnataka police claim to have an edge in terms of prevention and detection of crime.

As many as 1,600 police stations and specialised agencies such as Finger Print Bureau and Forensic Labs in the State are covered under CCTNS.

“Traditional policing faced a lot of bureaucratic hurdles to access, share and store information pertaining to crime, law and order. The CCTNS, with a centralised information network of 14,000 police stations across the country, will soon facilitate effective policing,” said Praveen Sood, Additional Director General of Police and nodal officer for the project in Karnataka.

Over 27,000 personnel have already been receiving training on CCTNS. The State government, since 2011, invested over Rs 49 crore for implementing the project. The State Exchequer will bear a recurring expense of Rs 10 crore annually.

Sood said: “The Karnataka police had their own ‘Police IT’ software in 2010, much before the other states. All we had to do was update ourselves with the requirements of this centralised system. Our database already has records from year 2000. But, we are planning to upload the data since 1991 as well.”

While the data hub of the CCTNS will be located at Madivala, a parallel storage centre in New Delhi will be immediately activated as a backup, should there be any harm to the one in the State.

The entire system will not only assist the officers in their daily functioning, but details on First Information Reports, chargesheets, criminal profiles and missing persons will be available just a click away.

Within a year, the police plan to involve around 45,000 personnel under CCTNS, with an aim to develop it into a citizen-centric interface.

“In the country, mobile penetration is more than that of the internet. So, we will eventually extend this to a M-service by sending system-generated messages of cases registered, articles found or case closure to the cellphones of the citizens concerned,” he said.

The Karnataka police will cover all districts under CCTNS by April 2013. On the security of the online interface, Sood said: “Only approved users are allowed to access the system.

There are several cyber attacks on the CCTNS. However, it is managed by a trusted IT firm and the threats have been tackled. Five to seven years down the line, we will be able to integrate even the judiciary and the prison database into the system, thus taking the entire criminal justice system in the loop.”