A right way forward Part-2
Easily understandable and up to date graphs and pie charts are available for everyone. This will not only increase transparency but also the accountability of police by the government, media and public
In the previous part, I explained 10 out of the 22 software that are digitising the police in Punjab. In this episode, explanation of the other 12 is given.
- IGP Complaint Centre (8787)
Previously complaints were received through post or a person had to travel to Lahore to submit his complaint in person at the Inspector General of Police office. This initiative aims at receiving complaints through SMS and voice calls on a short code (8787). Moreover, complaints are also received online as well as through emails. A dedicated team of young IT professionals has been deputed to handle these complaints in an expeditious manner. The system is highly interactive and the complainant is kept in the loop till the disposal of the complaint. The complainant can view the progress of his complaint online and can send his feedback at any moment, online or through SMS. IGP Complaint Centre accepts complaints of Non-Registration of FIRs, Faulty investigations, Illegal detentions, Arrests of innocent persons, Registration of false FIR, Slackness in Duty and Demand of illegal gratification. Monitoring of these complaints is being done in Kasur as well.
- Anti Vehicle Lifting System (AVLS)
This is a web application which maintains province wide database of snatched/stolen vehicles. It includes theft reporting, investigation, recovery, forensic lab test and handing over of vehicles to its owners as per court proceedings. This application is integrated with PSRMS, Excise and Taxation Department and Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA). It also provides centralised monitoring system with SMS alert and comprehensive reporting dashboard.
- Daily Crime Report (DCR)
This software tracks daily crime numbers per police station, combines the numbers and type of crimes at the district level and at the provincial level. Crime statistics are then prepared (infographics). For the first time, government, media and public at large have to do nothing but visit the Punjab police crime statistics page. Easily understandable and up to date graphs and pie charts are available for everyone. This will not only increase transparency but also the accountability of police by the government, media and public.
- Citizen Feedback Monitoring Program (CFMP)
The Citizen Feedback Monitoring Program (CFMP) is a feedback gathering mechanism that seeks feedback from citizens who utilise public services (driving license issuance, property registration, complaints at the DPO, DSP and SP investigation offices, etc). The collected feedback is then analysed with the intent of identifying problem areas and assisting relevant officials in taking evidence-based corrective measures. This helps in curbing corruption, building and enhancing citizen trust, better monitoring of public service delivery, enhancing citizen engagement.
Initiated in 2009, the project has evolved from a district level program into a dynamic provincial level structure that is striving to bridge the trust deficit between the state and the citizens. In the six years since its inception, CFMP has grown to become one of Punjab government’s most preeminent ICT project. Though the program has received significant national and international appreciation, the true measure of its success is its recent adoption by the European states of Albania and Romania.
We must not forget that all this revolution came because of the interest of the CM Punjab, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, visionary and alive leadership of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman, Umar Saif
- Trackers (Police Vehicle Patrolling Tracker)
Punjab police has introduced GPS tracking and digital monitoring for the fleet of vehicles (patrol vehicles of police stations and police posts; headquarter vehicles including trucks, buses, prison vans and ambulances). If any mobile van remains static for more than 30 minutes at any point, it is intimated to change the position and follow the proper patrolling SOPs. If any mobile van goes out of order the patrolling officer is required to promptly inform GPS control. If any mobile van is engaged for a secret mission, concerned station house officer will inform the GPS control before departure otherwise, the vehicles cannot leave the area of operation. At the end of every month, fuel consumption report for every mobile van is prepared according to the monthly mileage recorded through GPS system. General Positioning System is also integrated with the Wireless Control and also to the Rescue 15. In the case of any emergency, through the GPS system, resources can be mobilised to the target spot through the GPS system. There was no way to thoroughly check police vans or monitor their movement before this system. There is no possibility of wrong location reporting, mileage and fuel consumption anymore.
- Hotel Eye
This application is to log the check-ins and checkouts of the guests at hotels, along with CNIC numbers and personal details of visitors. It helps to track activities of hotels and their guests. Data of all and every criminal has been fed in the system and so, if and when a person with any criminal record checks in any of the hotels, his details appear to the operator. The software is not only helping identify criminals to bring a sense of security at hotels but also assisting the police to organize their data. Through the software, hundreds of criminals have been arrested including the ones having head money. This shows the usefulness of the software and its impact.
- Predictive Crime Intelligence Software (CIS)
For the crimes which terrify the society or heinous crimes such as dacoity, street crime, mugging, robbery, house robbery and other such, the police are no more leaving the whole investigations to the IOs, but PITB’s CIS is spoon feeding the investigation at the police station level today. When a CNIC is entered into the system, it brings out all the information about the person. His/her family tree, ATM card(s), credit card(s), hotel bookings (past six months), out of country visits, call detail issued, crime intelligence system, geo-fencing, CDR/IMEI analysis, CDR/location receiving, Google Earth are all incorporated into this single software. The added advantage of this software is suspected sketching which it does beautifully and perfectly to reach the criminal with the help of those who have suffered from a crime.
- Jail Diary (bailout accused)
Punjab police is not shaking hands off the criminals after sending them to jail. With this software the police keeps record of jail entry date, the crime charged, data of the crime record holders, released convicts, gang members, culprits at large and court absconders to keep an eye on their activities in and out of jail. This also helps the police to reach and find the criminals in a particular area in case a similar crime occurs. Not only these but a gazette, inkishaf, habitual offenders and targeted offenders diary are also a part of this software.
- SIM Record Management (SRM)
This software includes the data of mobile SIM ownership, Index Card Feeding and PAFIS cards feeding. Every registered SIM is present in the record. This system is interconnected with the cellular companies and the counter-terrorism department. Police are no more dependent on cellular companies to release the record of suspects to them, but the whole record is already present and live updated in this software.
- Mega Matcher (face and thumb impression recognition)
This software is for face recognition and thumb impression recognition. If someone has committed a crime in the past, his/her physical properties are already present in this software. In the presence of NADRA system, this software can match the fingerprints of the crime scene with the data bank. DPO Kasur, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, told that at present data of 94,000 criminals in Punjab is present in the system.
- Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)
People-police ratio in Punjab is not very healthy and it is an admitted fact that there is a dire shortage of police force. In this situation, force (human resource) management becomes necessary for the purposes of efficiency and effectiveness. Before this system, officers themselves were very shaky on appointment, transfer and human resource mobilisation because of the unclear picture. This software has solved the problem, however. It not only keep a record of total force present in any district but also the appointment date, good entries, bad entries, service book, red pen remarks, fitness for duty, religion and sect, officers observations, suspensions, corruption charges are all present in the system. From DPO to sweeper in the police department, everyone in the district police force is present in the system. With the help of infographics, (bar chart, pie chart, graphs) the allocation force in different police stations and their positions is also available in the system. This helps in proper resource allocation and prime functioning of the force.
- Police Legal Affairs Monitoring System (PLAMS)
Punjab Police has developed Police Legal Affairs Management System (PLAMS) for monitoring of litigation cases. It started with the computerisation of law related work of the police i.e. Writ petitions, service appeals, criminal originals, civil suits, intra court appeals, civil revision petitions, constitution petition and suo moto cases. Developing of software for non-litigation cases, computerisation of human rights cases and electronic archiving of all the previous data is also in progress.
We must not forget that all this revolution came because of the interest of the CM Punjab, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, visionary and alive leadership of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman, Umar Saif, and dedication of the head of software development wing, Burhan Rasool. From police side efforts of the people like Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, Syed Khurram Ali, Waqas Hassan, Zeeshan Asghar for police record management, Dr Haider Ashraf for HRMIS and Umar Riaz Cheema for automated fingerprints matching are commendable. PITB heroes of this system are Adil Iqbal Khan, Muhammad Aamir, Muhammad Usman, Jahantab Athar, Syed Muhammad Raza, Syed Muhammad Yousaf, Imad ul Islam and Abdus Sami Khan.
Every criminal caught, every gang busted, every crime stopped and every terror activity foiled will make us and these heroes prouder.
