[Polity] Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems (CCTNS): features, Benefits

1. Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems(CCTNS)
2. What are the advantages of CCTNS?
   1. Benefits to Senior police officers
   2. Benefits to Investigating Officers
   3. Benefits to Citizen
3. Future ahead: CCTNS
4. Current Progress of CCTNS
5. Bureau of Police Research and Development(BPRD)
6. What is National Police Mission (NPM) ?
7. Mock questions

Let’s first see how police database system used to work earlier.Ok so what’s the problem in above system?

• Duplication of records.
• Criminals will just move from one state to another.
• Very hard to track Repeated Offenders.
• Each police station has lot of individual records and files =just gathering dust. (plus very time consuming to search data in paper files)

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems(CCTNS)

• ­Project started in 2009. (In the wake of 26/11 attack.)
• This is a project under the National e-Governance plan.
• It’ll set up infrastructure (computers, printer, scanner, UPS, router etc) in each police station.
• It’ll connect each police station to a centralized framework. (total about 14000 police stations in country)
• Make biometric profile (fingerprints, blood group, birthmarks etc) of convicts.
• Details of Arrested/ Missing/ Kidnapped.
• Online tracking of complaints etc.
• The core software is developed by Wipro. (of Azim Premji)

What are the advantages of CCTNS?

• Easy to track convicts.
• Biometric records of convicts are taken= no confusion in future. (e.g. if a criminal has done plastic surgery or got a fake driving license/election card to create new identity to settle in a different city/state.)
• In the old “Don” movie (starring Big B), criminals kept contacts and payment details in a Red coloured Diary.
• But in the remake of “Don” (starring Shah Rukh Khan), they’re using sophisticated hard disks! So, if criminals have upgraded their “office-procedures”, then police definitely needs more tech upgrades. Hahaha
• In many schemes (such as right to education), the state Governments need to contribute some money and they always keep crying that “we don’t have money so we can’t implement it properly”.
• But this CCTNS scheme is 100% centrally funded scheme=States can’t make excuses.
• central data system is very useful for research on crime and for framing policies related to certain crimes.
• This is very important considering the recent rape incidents, the juvenile issue and also the nature/origin/background of convicts.

Benefits to Senior police officers

(e.g. SP, DIG etc)

1. Efficient personnel /HR  Management (e.g. salary, leave, promotion, transfer, training schedules etc. of the lower staff)
2. Effectively oversee the investigation.
3. They can quickly access the statistics regarding crime detection, investigation and prevention.
4. They need such statistical data before
   1. a press conference, or
   2. replying to an R.T.I. or
   3. for supplying information to home minister, for questions asked in parliament/State legislative assembly.

Benefits to Investigating Officers

(ACP, Police inspector, etc)

• They can contact external agencies like Jails, Courts, Transport, Passport, Foreigners Registration Offices / depts., etc., for relevant information.
• Right now they’ve to manually call people or write paper-letters or send their staff to collect the information. For example

1. Did xyz suspect was in jail during this xyz date or was he out on parole?
2. Did Mr.X visit xyz country on xyz date?
3. Is this car belong to Mr.X and was it previously owned by Mr.Y?

• They can file On-line reports to senior officers – reduction of day to day paper work= now they can spent more time and energy doing actual investigation.
• They can access On-line library containing checklist on investigations, court judgments, police manuals etc. to prepare a ‘full-proof’ charge sheet against the suspect.
• They can allot assignments, patrolling-schedules etc. to the staff quickly.

Benefits to Citizen

• You can register complaints can online.
• You can track the progress on your FIRs online. (Similar to Track your application in Passport Seva Kendras– software developed by TCS company for Ministry of External affairs.).
• You can download various forms (police clearance for domicile certificate etc.)
• You requests police to verify background for servants, employment, tenants.
• senior citizen registrations can register themselves (so policeman will visit your home once in a while to see everything is ok)
• Motor Vehicle Tracking System,
• List of missing persons, unidentified persons & dead bodies. So you don’t have to go from pillar to post to get such information.

Future ahead: CCTNS

• Centralized IT enabled Police Passport Verification= Faster verifications.
• Summons and Warrants can be approved online. In districts and remote villages, it takes a lot of time to reach court and get a warrant.
• In case of Inter-state crimes, faster and improved coordination among police stations.

These are just some of the planned expansions. Many more can be introduced. (and you can asked to give suggestions during interview.)

Current Progress of CCTNS

• All the States/UTs have started incorporating the system.
• Pilot schemes have been launched at various police stations in the country from Jan 2013.
• These pilot schemes mean that those police stations will be using the CCTNS for all their police work.

Now, for some other information regarding police reforms in the country:

Bureau of Police Research and Development(BPRD)

• Setup in 1970.
• Acts as the consultant organization for Police reforms for the government.
• Conducts Research on Police development, -modernization, training, administration and other aspects.
• Conducts Seminar, Conferences on Police development.

This BPRD has set up a “National Police Mission (NPM)”.

What is National Police Mission (NPM) ?

• Formulated in 2005.
• For initiation national level reforms in police.
•  Various Micro Missions have been created under this Mission, such as:

1. Human resource Development.
2. Community Policing.
3. Communication and Technology.
4. Infrastructure.
5. Proactive Policing

While this nation police mission mission is created with such high level objectives, it will work only if the state governments take its recommendations seriously and actually undertaking police reforms.

Mock questions

Q1. Find Correct statement?

1. CCTNS is an initiative by Ministry of Home affairs for modernization of police
2. The Centre and State will share the cost of building CCTNS infrastructure in the ratio of  75:25.

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

Q2. Find correct statement

1. The Software Development Agency for creation of software for the CCTNS project is TCS.
2. The partner for Ministry of External Affairs in the Passport Seva Kendras is Wipro.

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

Q3 Find incorrect Match

Mains

1. BPRD. (5 marks)
2. CCTNS.(5 marks)
3. Discuss the features and benefits of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System.(15 marks.)

Essay

1. Police Reforms
2. Policing the Police

Ref

1. www.bprd.nic.in
2. http://ncrb.nic.in/cctns.htm
3. http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/online/knowPassportSeva